San Francisco, officially the Municipality of San Francisco (; ), 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 ...

Agusan del Sur Agusan del Sur, officially the Province of Agusan del Sur (; Butuanon: ''Probinsya hong Agusan del Sur''; ), is a province in Caraga region, Mindanao, Philippines. Its capital is the municipality of Prosperidad. It is bordered on the northwest ...

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 80,760 people. The town serves as the center of trade and commerce in the province of Agusan del Sur. In 2013, San Francisco topped first as the "Most Competitive Municipality in the Philippines in 2012" according to the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) from out of the 163 first-class municipalities covered by their index. The protected area of the Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary can also be reached in San Francisco thru the Barangays Caimpugan and New Visayas. The town is known for the gigantic Toog Tree of Alegria, which is the most sacred tribal tree for many of the Indigenous peoples of San Francisco. The town is also popular for its Irosin stone crafts, which has been the cottage industry of many Indigenous families in the area for hundreds of years. Due to the town's commendable folk arts and crafts made in stone, many scholars have suggested for its nomination in the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Creative Cities Network The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a flagship city programme of UNESCO launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which have recognized culture and creativity as strategic drivers of sustainable urban development Urban means ...

. The town's name is sometimes colloquially shortened to "San France" or alternately spelled "San Franz" and "San Frans".

History

The birth of San Francisco is associated with the history of

Agusan Agusan may refer to the following: In geography * Agusan province, a former province in the Philippines, now divided between: ** Agusan del Norte ** Agusan del Sur * Legislative district of Agusan in the Philippines for the former province befo ...

and

Surigao del Sur Surigao del Sur (Surigaonon language, Surigaonon: ''Probinsya nan Surigao del Sur''; ; ), officially the Province of Surigao del Sur, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Caraga Regions of the Philippines ...

. Before San Francisco became a municipality, it was part of the District of Gibong, which was then governed by Deputy Governor Francisco Cataylo. During this period, the district comprised the ''

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 ...

s'' of Santa Ana, Caimpugan, Ebro, Borbon, La Caridad, Prosperidad, Azpetea and Los Arcos, with Santa Ana the seat of government. Like other ''barrio''s, Santa Ana comprised several

sitio A ''sitio'' ( 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 barangay if its popu ...

s, including Sitio Hagpa, which was the site of the present day San Francisco. Hagpa was coined from a

Manobo The Manobò (sometimes also spelled Menobò, Manuvù , Menuvù , or Minuvù) are an indigenous peoples from Mindanao in the Philippines, whose core lands cover most of the Mindanao island group, from Sarangani island into the Mindanao mainland in ...

word for "swampy" as the sitio was a small village nestled along the Adlayan River and inhabited by Manobo tribes. The opening of the Province of Agusan del Sur to most parts of Mindanao came during the government of President

Ramon Magsaysay Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay Sr. (August 31, 1907 – March 17, 1957) was a Filipino statesman who served as the seventh President of the Philippines, from December 30, 1953, until his death in an 1957 Cebu Douglas C-47 crash, aircraft disast ...

who ordered the first road survey to be conducted by the Department of Highway in 1952. In early 1954, road construction began paving the way for the institution of public land subdivision and the in-migration of different local tribes and settlers from the various provinces of Mindanao,

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, a ...

and

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 ...

. ''Hagpa'' was later renamed ''San Francisco'' in honor of Deputy District Governor Francisco Cataylo. In early 1955, the first local government was established as San Francisco was created as a Municipal District. Francisca Tesoro Samson was appointed as the first Municipal District Mayor by then Provincial Governor Felixberto Dagani. On June 21, 1959, through ''Republic Act No. 2518'', San Francisco was officially created into a regular municipality of the Province of Agusan. In the same year, the first local officials of the municipality were elected with Atty. Paquito Fuentes as the first elected municipal mayor, who served for three consecutive terms of office. He was succeeded by Engr. Bienvenido Y. Tumulak, Sr. and was succeeded by his vice mayor, Cresencio Ausmolo who stayed in office by operation of law during the latter half-portion of his last term. Eight years after its creation as a regular municipality, on June 17, 1967, through ''Republic Act No. 4979'', the Province of Agusan was divided into the Provinces of

Agusan del Norte Agusan del Norte, officially the Province of Agusan del Norte (; Butuanon: ''Probinsya hong Agusan del Norte''; ), is a province in the Caraga region of the Philippines. Its ''de jure'' capital is the city of Cabadbaran with several government o ...

and Agusan del Sur, in which San Francisco was part of the latter. The continued growth of Agusan del Sur also saw the development of the municipality of San Francisco. Its growing population later paved the way for the creation of the municipality of Rosario through ''Republic Act No. 5760'' approved by President

Diosdado Macapagal Diosdado Pangan Macapagal Sr. (; September 28, 1910 – April 21, 1997) was a Filipino lawyer, poet and politician who served as the 9th President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the 5th Vice President of the Philippines, V ...

on June 21, 1969, just two years after the creation of Agusan del Sur. As a result, the several ''barrio''s of San Francisco including Bayugan III, Wasi-an, Santa Cruz, Cabawan, Cabantao, Marfil and Tagbayagan were incorporated in the newly created municipality. The ''barrio''s of Buenasuerte, Caimpogan, Pasta, Lapinigan, Ebro, New Visayas, Bayugan II, Borbon, Tagapua, Pisaan, Santa Ana, Hubang, Alegria, San Isidro, Das-agan, Ladgadan, Lucac, Bitan-agan and Poblacion consisting of five barrios as stated in ''PD No. 86'' dated December 31, 1972, remained to form part of the 39,253-hectare Municipality of San Francisco. The ''barrio''s of Rizal, Ormaca, Mate and Karaos were later created and added to form final 27 barangays of the present day San Francisco.

Geography

According to the

Philippine Statistics Authority The Philippine Statistics Authority (; PSA) is the central statistical authority of the Philippine government that collects, compiles, analyzes, and publishes statistical information on economic, social, demographic, political affairs, and gene ...

, the municipality has a land area of constituting of the total area of Agusan del Sur.

Climate

Barangays

San Francisco is politically subdivided into 27

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 ...

Demographics

In the 2020 census, San Francisco had a population of 80,760. The population density was .

Economy

San Francisco is the "Commercial Capital of

", serving as the primary commercial and service center in the province of Agusan del Sur. Situated within the crossroad leading to other production centers in the region, San Francisco serves as the primary distribution point of goods and people for the province. The presence of malls, hotels, restaurants, communication and transportation facilities makes San Francisco the training convention center of the province and a favored place for tourists to stay with Mount Magdiwata boosting its tourism sector.

Transportation

San Francisco have a bus terminal named San Francisco Transport Terminal. All major buses including Bachelor Express, Davao Metro Shuttle and GO Mindanao bound for Davao,

Butuan Butuan (pronounced ), officially the City of Butuan (; Butuanon: ''Dakbayan hong Butuan''; ), is a highly urbanized city and the regional center of Caraga, Philippines. It is the '' de facto'' capital of the province of Agusan del Norte ...

, Surigao,

Tandag Tandag, officially the City of Tandag (Surigaonon language#Tandaganon, Tandaganon/Surigaonon language, Surigaonon: ''Siyudad nan Tandag''; cebuano language, Cebuano: ''Dakbayan sa Tandag''; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classificatio ...

and Mangagoy.

Philtranco Philtranco Service Enterprises, Inc. (, ; Philippine Transportation Company) is a bus company in the Philippines, servicing routes to Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Caraga, Davao Region, and Northern Mindanao. It is the oldest bus operator in the Phi ...

also serve San Francisco, to and from

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 Philippine census, 2020 census, it has a ...

. San Francisco also have another public transportation called

jeepney A jeepney (), or simply a jeep (), is a type of Public transport, public utility vehicle (PUV) that serves as the most popular means of Transportation in the Philippines, public transportation in the Philippines. Known for its crowded seating ...

and

multicab A multicab is a small light truck in the Philippines that is usually used as public transport. Like jeepneys, they usually have fixed routes, although there are multicabs that serve as taxicabs to take passengers where they want, as a motorized ...

, their destination is

Prosperidad Prosperidad, officially the Municipality of Prosperidad (; ), is a municipality and capital of the province of Agusan del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 88,321 people. Prosperidad was created on June 18, ...

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

Talacogon Talacogon, officially the Municipality of Talacogon (; ), is a municipality in the province of Agusan del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 39,678 people. History Talacogon got its name from the cogon gra ...

and

Barobo Barobo, officially the Municipality of Barobo ( Surigaonon: ''Lungsod nan Barobo''; ) is a municipality in the province of Surigao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 53,146 people. History Legend has i ...

. Public Utility Van (PUV) also served San Francisco, bound for Davao,

, Mangagoy and

Tagum Tagum, officially the City of Tagum (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Davao del Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 296,202, making it the most po ...

Education

Agusan del Sur National High School STE Building

List of public and private educational institutions: * Agusan del Sur National High School * Alegria Elementary School * ACLC College of San Francisco * Bayugan 2 National High School (formerly Bayugan 2 Integrated School) * Buenasuerte Elementary School * Buenasuerte High School * Bitan-agan Elementary School * Caimpugan Elementary School *

Bukidnon State University Bukidnon State University, abbreviated as BSU and colloquially referred to as BukSU, is a provincial state university in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon, Philippines. Formerly named Bukidnon State College, it became a university in 2007. The other uni ...

(''San Francisco - External Studies Center'') * Das-agan Elementary School * D.O. Plaza National High School * Divine Mercy Play School (Preschool & Kindergarten) * Enfant Cheri Study Centre * Karaos Elementary School * Ladgadan Elementary school * Lapinigan Central Elementary School * Lapinigan National High School * Light and Life Christian Learning Center (Pre-school & Elementary) * Mate Elementary School * Mount Carmel College of San Francisco, Inc. (Kindergarten, Elementary, High School & College) * New Visayas Elementary School * Ong Yiu Memorial Elementary School * Ormaca Elementary School * Pasta Elementary School * Pisaan Elementary School * Saint Francis Xavier College * San Francisco Colleges (High School & College) * San Francisco Pilot Central Elementary School (Kindergarten & Elementary) * San Francisco SDA Elementary School (Kindergarten & Elementary) * San Francisco SPED Learning Center * San Francisco West Central Elementary School (Kindergarten & Elementary) * San Isidro Elementary School * Southway College of Technology * Santa Ana Elementary School * Tagapua Elementary School

References

External links

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 ...

{{Authority control Municipalities of Agusan del Sur