Mati, officially the City of Mati (; ; ), is a
component city 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
Davao Oriental,
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 ...
located on the southeasternmost side of
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...
.
History
Mati comes from the Mandaya word ''Maa-ti'', which refers to the town's creek that easily dries up even after heavy rain. Pioneer settlers were the
Austronesian indigenous peoples
There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
Mandaya and
Kalagan, and the Arabic-Indo-Malayan-influenced
Maguindanao and
Maranao.
Spanish period
Captain Prudencio Garcia, the pioneer political-military head in 1861, and his comrade Juan Nazareno founded the settlement of Mati and two other communities in
Davao Oriental.
American period
By October 29, 1903, Mati was declared a municipality by virtue of Act No. 21.
[ By 1907, Act No. 189 further reaffirmed the establishment of its local government. Francisco Rojas was the first appointed mayor while the first elected mayor was Patricio Cunanan in 1923. Mati became the capital of Davao Oriental in 1967.
]
Japanese occupation and World War II
The Japanese Imperial forces landed in town and occupied most of eastern Davao region in 1942. Mati was liberated in 1945 by the Allied Philippine Commonwealth troops of the 6th, 10th, 101st, 102nd, 103rd, 104th, 106th, 107th and 110th Infantry Division of the Philippine Commonwealth Army, 10th Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Constabulary
The Philippine Constabulary (PC; , ''HPP''; ) was a gendarmerie-type military police force of the Philippines from 1901 to 1991, and the predecessor to the Philippine National Police. It was created by the Insular Government, American occupat ...
and the Davaoeño guerrilla units.
Contemporary Period
Mati celebrated the grand centennial of its founding as a town in 2003.
Cityhood
On June 20, 2007, the Commission on Elections
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
officially proclaimed the ratification of Republic Act 9408 converting the Municipality of Mati into a component city.
There were 18,267 actual voters out of the 51,287 registered voters in 26 villages and 266 polling precincts during the June 18 plebiscite. Final tabulation showed Yes – 18,267 votes (%); No – 846 (1.6%).
The Supreme Court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
declared the cityhood law of Mati and 15 other cities unconstitutional after a petition filed by the League of Cities of the Philippines in its ruling on November 18, 2008. On December 22, 2009, the cityhood law of Mati and 15 other municipalities regain its status as cities again after the court reversed its ruling on November 18, 2008. On August 23, 2010, the court reinstated its ruling on November 18, 2008, causing Mati and 15 cities to become regular municipalities. Finally, on February 15, 2011, Mati becomes a city again including the 15 municipalities declaring that the conversion to cityhood met all legal requirements.
After six years of legal battle, in its board resolution, the League of Cities of the Philippines acknowledged and recognized the cityhood of Mati and 15 other cities.
Barangays
Mati is politically subdivided into 26 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 puroks while some have sitios.
In 1957, the barrio then known as Cabuaya was renamed to Dawan.
Climate
Mati features a tropical rainforest climate with copious amounts of rainfall throughout the course of the year. There is no pronounced dry season, but it has very pronounced maximum rain from May to July, with June being the wettest month of the year, experiencing 28 days of rain.
Demographics
Ethnicity and Languages
Cebuano is the most widely spoken language and the corresponding ethnicity (which includes the Boholano subgroup) accounts for 71.55% of the total household population according to a 2000 census. Mandaya ranks second with 12.74%, followed by Kalagan with 6.87%. Most residents of Mati are descendants of migrants from the Visayas who came for employment opportunities in logging, mining, farming, fishing, trading and teaching.
Economy
Main produce from the city is coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...
.
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Provincial capitals of the Philippines