Aleosan, officially the Municipality of Aleosan ( Maguindanaon: ''Inged nu Aleosan'', Jawi: ايڠد نو الاوسن;

Iranun The Iranun are an Austronesian ethnic group native to southwestern Mindanao, Philippines. They are ethnically and culturally closely related to the Maranao, and Maguindanaon, all three groups being denoted as speaking Danao languages and giv ...

: ''Inged a Aleosan'', ايڠد ا الاوسن; ; ; ), is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Cotabato Cotabato, formerly and still commonly referred to as North Cotabato and officially the Province of Cotabato, is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Soccsksargen Regions of the Philippines, regi ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 36,892 people.

History

Establishment

The name Aleosan is an acronym derived from the three municipalities of

Iloilo Iloilo ( ; ), officially the Province of Iloilo (; ; ; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Iloilo City, the regional center of Western Visayas and politically independen ...

where the majority of the early Christian inhabitants in northern Pikit, its mother municipality, came from: Alimodian, Leon, and San Miguel. Then assemblyman Jesus P. Amparo authored ''Parliamentary Bill No. 670'', which was also co-authored by assemblymen Blah T. Sinsuat, Ernesto F. Roldan and Tomas B. Baga Jr. The bill sought the establishment of the new municipality which was originally proposed as ''O. Romualdez''. The bill was ultimately approved on March 25, 1982 as ''Batas Pambansa Blg. 206''; a new municipality was organized, separating from Pikit 19 ''

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s'', including San Mateo which would be the seat of government. A plebiscite for ratification, along with ten more newly created local entities, was held on May 17, coinciding with the barangay elections.

Partial inclusion to the Bangsamoro

In 2019, Dunguan and Tapodoc were among the 63 ''barangays'' in

the province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they ...

which became part of the Special Geographic Area of the newly created

Bangsamoro Bangsamoro, officially the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM; ; ), is an autonomous region in the Philippines, located in the southwestern portion of the island of Mindanao. Replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Minda ...

, after having the affirmative vote won to join the autonomous region in a plebiscite held on February 6. The two, with Lower Mingading, were among the 39 ''barangays'' in the province that unsuccessfully voted for the inclusion in the

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (; ''Al-ḥukm adh-dhātī al-'iqlīmī li-muslimī Mindanāu''; ARMM) was an Autonomous regions of the Philippines, autonomous region of the Philippines, located in the Mindanao Island groups of the P ...

in 2001; with Pagangan, were proposed to be part of the Bangsamoro, which replaced ARMM by virtue of ''Republic Act No. 11054''. In 2023, the Bangsamoro Parliament approved the creation of eight new municipalities in the area. Dunguan and Tapodoc became part of municipalities of Nabalawag (''Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 43'') and Tugunan (''BAA No. 47''), respectively, following ratification in a plebiscite on April 13, 2024.

Geography

Aleosan is within the political boundary of Cotabato Province. It is approximately from the capital town of Amas which is barely two (2) hours ride from the seat of its municipal government. It is bounded on the west by Midsayap; on the north by Libungan and on the east and south by Pikit. It is accessible to land transportation from Cotabato City traversing the municipalities of Maguindanao to Kidapawan up to Davao City, as it is located along the major transport route linking the provinces of Maguindanao, Cotabato and Davao del Sur.

Barangays

Aleosan is politically subdivided into 17

s. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s while some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...

. The seat of the municipal government is in barangay San Mateo.

Climate

Aleosan area belongs to the fourth type of climate or the intermediate "E" with no distinct dry season. Rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year with heavier rains from May to September. This type of climate conditions is suitable for the production of crops like rice, corn, mangoes, jackfruit, vegetables and root crops, which are considered seasonal crops and permanent crops like coconut, rubber, coffee, cacao and orchard crops.

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Aleosan, Cotabato, was 36,892 people, with a density of .

Economy

The municipality is endowed with abundant agricultural raw materials suitable for processing. These include coconut, banana, rubber, mango and coffee. There are small-scale enterprises but these are not sustainable due to inadequate capital. A cassava processing plant was shut down due to insufficient supply of raw materials and low quality of starch produced. The area however, is best suited for mango production and there is a need to develop the industry to cater the growing needs of the locality. The municipality's livestock industry has great potentials being one of the top producers and supplier of livestock in the province. , the gross domestic product (GDP) of Aleosan is .

Tourism

* Brgy Malapang – Mountain climbing * Brgy Pentil – Eco tourism * Brgy Katalicanan – UK Peak * Lindungan – Sunset View

References

External links

Aleosan Profile at the DTI Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index
* Philippine Standard Geographic Code {{Authority control Municipalities of Cotabato