Malita, officially the Municipality of Malita (; ), 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 ...

Davao Occidental Davao Occidental (; ), officially the Province of Davao Occidental (; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is the municipality of Malita, the most populous town in the province. To the east lies ...

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 118,197 people making it the most populous town in the province. Malita is known for various cultural arts and heritage of its people and tribes. ''Gaginaway Festival'' is celebrated annually every full moon on the month of November and ''Araw ng Malita'' is celebrated annually on November 17, the day of its establishment's enactment in 1936.

Etymology

According to a legend, the name of Malita was derived from the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

word ''maleta'', meaning

suitcase A suitcase is a form of baggage. It is a rectangular container with a handle and is typically used to carry one's clothes and other belongings while traveling. The first suitcases appeared in the late 19th century due to the increased popular ...

. Don Mariano Peralta, a retired

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

veteran, lost his suitcase while crossing a river. His shouts of ''"Maleta, Maleta"'' caught the attention of the locals, who retrieved it and later named the area Malita. Its spelling may be associated with the local pronunciation, wherein the ‘e’ sound is commonly used for the

vowel A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract, forming the nucleus of a syllable. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness a ...

s ‘i’ and ‘e’.

History

Malita is the first municipality established in what is now

. However, its existence dates back scores of years before its formal creation as a municipality of the undivided province of Davao. The Tagakaulo, Blaan and Manobo communities have been living in the area before the arrival of the Spaniards. In 1887, Pablo Pastells, a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionary, mentioned Malita, along with Malalag and Lais, as areas where a total of almost 7,000 Tagakaulo residents. Records show that Malita must have existed long before the passage of the

Philippine Commission The Philippine Commission was the name of two bodies, both appointed by the president of the United States, to assist with governing the Philippines. The First Philippine Commission, also known as the Schurman Commission, was appointed by Pre ...

Act, the Laws of the

Moro Province Moro Province was a province of the Philippines consisting of the regions of Zamboanga, Lanao, Cotabato, Davao, and Jolo. It was later split into provinces and regions organized under the Department of Mindanao and Sulu, along with the for ...

that mentioned Malita in Section 1 of Act No. 164 dated December 10, 1904. Through the said Act it is presumed that it existed as a ''

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

'' of Santa Cruz long before the coming of the Americans to Davao. Executive Order No. 64, s. 1936, issued by President

Manuel L. Quezon Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina (, , , ; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino people, Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier, and politician who was president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1 ...

, officially created Malita into a municipality. The change legally took effect on January 1, 1937. It originally consisted of nine barrios: Malita (the municipal seat), Basiauan, Kalian, Lacaron, Lais, Lawa, Lawayon, Talaguton, and Tubalon. Marcelino Maruya, from whom the town of Don Marcelino was named after, was the first appointed municipal mayor. Waves of migrants from the

Visayan Visayans ( Cebuano: ''mga Bisayà'' ) are a Philippine ethnolinguistic family group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, to the southernmost islands south of Luzon, and to a significant portion of Mindanao. They are composed of numerous di ...

islands, most of whom hail from

Cebu Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...

, came on what is now Malita during the American colonial period. They were later followed by immigrants from

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

. Even after the destruction brought by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

by the belligerents, there are still waves of migrants towards Malita and other parts of then-

Davao province Davao, officially the Province of Davao (; ), was a province in the Philippines on the island of Mindanao. The old province is coterminous with the present-day Davao Region or Region XI. It was divided into three provinces of Davao del Norte, D ...

. Barrios Batulaki and Caburan seceded from Malita to form the separate town of Trinidad (now Jose Abad Santos) on August 1, 1948. On May 8, 1967, Malita became part of

Davao del Sur Davao del Sur (; ), officially the Province of Davao del Sur (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is Digos. Davao City is the largest city in terms of area an ...

, when Davao was divided under Republic Act No. 4867. On December 19, 1979, barangays Calian, Kiobog, Lamidan, Lawa, Nueva Villa, and Talagutong were separated from Malita to form the new municipality of Don Marcelino. On October 28, 2013, Malita was ceded to

and designated as its provincial capital as a result of a

plebiscite A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or adv ...

, in which the majority of voters approved the creation of the new province.

Geography

Climate

Barangays

Malita is subdivided into 30

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 ...

. * Bito * Bolila * Buhangin * Culaman * Datu Danwata * Demoloc * Felis * Fishing Village * Kibalatong * Kidalapong * Kilalag * Kinangan * Lacaron * Lagumit * Lais * Little Baguio * Macol * Mana * Manuel Peralta * New Argao * Pangian * Pinalpalan * Poblacion * Sangay * Talogoy * Tical * Ticulon * Tingolo * Tubalan * Pangaleon

Demographics

Economy

Malita is the main economic center of Davao Occidental. Agriculture and fishery are primary economic drivers of the municipality. There is also a fledgling tourism industry, focused on snorkeling and water activities. The energy sector also contributes to the municipality's economy. The Malita Power Plant, opened in 2018, is a 300-megawatt coal-fired thermal power plant developed by San Miguel Global Power. As the town is quite far from other urban centers such as

Digos Digos, officially the City of Digos (; ), is a component city and capital of the province of Davao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 188,376 people. The city lies on the western shores of Davao Gul ...

Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao, is a City of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the List of Philippine cities and municipalities ...

and

General Santos General Santos, officially the City of General Santos and abbreviated as GenSan, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Regions of the Philippines, region of Soccsksargen, Philippines. According to ...

, Malita is now developing as an urban center of its own, evident in its population, the biggest amongst the municipalities of Davao Occidental. It is now home to hospitals, colleges, banks and shopping centers. As economic activity in the town continues its rapid growth, Malita will soon become the province's first component city in a few years.

Government

Municipal officials (2022-2025): * Mayor: Bradly Bautista * Vice Mayor: Estefanie Bautista-Dumama *Councilors: ** Benjamin Bautista III ** Carlo Chino Baliota ** Romeo T. Lopez ** Girly Licuan ** Allan Colina ** Isabelo Masiwel ** Tomas Alcordo Jr. ** Josie James Rillo

Education

Tertiary

* Southern Philippines Agri-Business and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology - Poblacion, Malita (Main Campus) and Buhangin, Malita (Buhangin Campus) *Adventure College of Malita, Inc. *Seng Pek Chuan Academy, Inc. *Don Juan Technical Academy of Davao, Inc. (Malita Branch)

Secondary

*B'laan National High School *Benjamin V. Bautista Sr. Special High School *Ernesto Lopez National High School *Demoloc Valley National High School *Fishing Village Comprehensive National High School *Holy Cross of Malita, Inc. *Mariano Peralta National High School (Campuses in barangays: Poblacion, Sangay, Manuel Peralta, Datu Danwata, Talogoy, Pangian, and New Argao) *Ticulon National High School *Tubalan Comprehensive National High School

References

External links

Malita Profile at the DTI Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index
*

Philippine Standard Geographic Code The Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC) is a systematic classification and coding for geographic areas in the Philippines. It classifies areas based on the country's four levels of administrative divisions: regions, provinces, municipalities ...

Philippine Census Information

Local Governance Performance Management System
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malita, Davao Occidental Municipalities of Davao Occidental Provincial capitals of the Philippines Political divisions established by Philippine executive order 1936 establishments in the Philippines