Buluan, officially the Municipality of Buluan (
Maguindanaon: ''Inged nu Buluan''; ), 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' ...
and capital of 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 ...
of
Maguindanao del Sur
Maguindanao del Sur, officially the Province of Maguindanao del Sur (, Jawi Alphabet, Jawi:دايرت نو سلاتان مڬیندانو, ), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro reg ...
,
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 57,406 people.
The town was recognized by the
Sangguniang Panlalawigan
Sangguniang Panlalawigan (abbreviated as SP; ), commonly known as the Provincial Board, are the legislatures in Provinces of the Philippines, Philippine provinces. They are the legislative branches of the provinces, and their powers and responsibi ...
of the former
Maguindanao
Maguindanao (; Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Magindanaw''; Iranun: ''Perobinsia a Magindanao''; ) was a province of the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). From 2014 to 2022, its provincial capital ...
province as the new (
de jure
In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...
) provincial capital in 2014,
a move seen as the solution to the decades-old issue of Maguindanao's lack of a permanent provincial capitol due to local clan politics.
Republic Act No. 11550 officially designated Buluan as the capital of Maguindanao del Sur.
History

Buluan used to comprise a vast area surrounding
Lake Buluan
Lake Buluan is a lake located on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. With an estimated surface area of , it is the third largest lake in Mindanao, after Lake Lanao and Lake Mainit. It has an average elevation of .
The lake is sandwiched ...
when it was created as one of the municipalities of
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 ...
on August 8, 1947, by Executive Order No. 82 of
Pres Pres may refer to:
Abbreviations
*President (disambiguation), President
*Pressure
*Presbyterian
*Pres, glossing abbreviation for the present tense
Acronyms
*Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome
*Pôle de recherche et d'enseignement supéri ...
.
Manuel Roxas
Manuel Acuña Roxas (; January 1, 1892 – April 15, 1948) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fifth president of the Philippines from 1946 until his death in 1948. He served briefly as the third and last President of the ...
. On August 3, 1951, the municipality of
Tacurong
Tacurong, officially the City of Tacurong (; Maguindanaon: ''Kuta nu Takurung'', Jawi: كوت نو تكروڠ; ), is a component city in the province of Sultan Kudarat, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 109,3 ...
was created out of its south-western portion. In 1961, its south-eastern portion was separated to form the municipality of
Columbio, six years later its southern portion was made into the municipality of
Lutayan. It was made part of 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 ...
of
Maguindanao
Maguindanao (; Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Magindanaw''; Iranun: ''Perobinsia a Magindanao''; ) was a province of the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). From 2014 to 2022, its provincial capital ...
on November 22, 1973, at the same time ceding its western coast of Lake Buluan to create the municipality of
President Quirino, which was made part of
Sultan Kudarat
Sultan Kudarat, officially the Province of Sultan Kudarat (; Maguindanao language, Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Sultan Kudarat'', Jawi Alphabet, Jawi: دايرت نو سولتان كودرت; ; Ilocano language, Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Sultan Ku ...
province. Its northern portion was made into the municipality of
Gen. S. K. Pendatun on April 7, 1991. Its area was further divided on December 30, 2006, when two more municipalities were created out of its territory namely:
Mangudadatu and
Pandag, losing 8 barangays (south and north, respectively) to each of the two new towns.
In 2014, the
Sangguniang Panlalawigan
Sangguniang Panlalawigan (abbreviated as SP; ), commonly known as the Provincial Board, are the legislatures in Provinces of the Philippines, Philippine provinces. They are the legislative branches of the provinces, and their powers and responsibi ...
of
Maguindanao
Maguindanao (; Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Magindanaw''; Iranun: ''Perobinsia a Magindanao''; ) was a province of the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). From 2014 to 2022, its provincial capital ...
passed a resolution naming Buluan the new capital of Maguindanao.
Pending the completion of the new capitol complex, the provincial governor
Esmael Mangudadatu (a Buluan native) will continue to hold office in the town's Rajah Buayan Silongan Peace Center — originally designated as a mere satellite office of the provincial government when Mangudadatu took office in 2010,
but since the official designation of Buluan as provincial capital in 2014 has served as the provisional capitol building. However, the legislative branch of provincial government, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Maguindanao, continues to hold sessions in the refurbished buildings of the old provincial capitol in Simuay,
Sultan Kudarat
Sultan Kudarat, officially the Province of Sultan Kudarat (; Maguindanao language, Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Sultan Kudarat'', Jawi Alphabet, Jawi: دايرت نو سولتان كودرت; ; Ilocano language, Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Sultan Ku ...
, by virtue of Sangguniang Panlalawigan Resolution No. 78 dated May 3, 2011.
The old provincial capitol complex, built next to the
previous governor's properties in
Shariff Aguak, was converted for public use.
Geography
Barangays
Buluan is politically subdivided into 7
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.
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 ...
.
* Digal
* Lower Siling
* Maslabeng
* Poblacion
* Popol
* Talitay
* Upper Siling
Climate
Demographics
Economy
Poverty Incidence of
References
External links
Buluan Profile at the DTI Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index*
Philippine Standard Geographic CodePhilippine Census InformationLocal Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control
Municipalities of Maguindanao del Sur
Provincial capitals of the Philippines
Political divisions established by Philippine executive order