Jabonga, Agusan del Norte, Philippines

By James Barcelona

Tourist Attractions

Bangonay River

Jabonga is a third class municipality in the province of Agusan del Norte, Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 23,833 people.

Geography

Mamalingay Gear

Jabonga lies within the grid 90 degrees 18 minutes to 9 degrees 23 minutes north latitude and 125 degrees 43 minutes east longitude. Its boundaries are Kitcharao and Surigao del Norte to the north; Butuan Bay to the west; Tubay and Santiago to the south; Surigao del Sur to the east. It is 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Butuan City.

Mayugda Falls

It has a total land area of 29,300 hectares of plain to rolling and hilly lands. Among the municipalities, Jabonga ranks first in total area and number of farms (464) which are mostly owned by individuals. It has one of the 36 crop storage facilities of the province.Its major crops are coconut, rice, corn, timber and both fresh and sea-water fish.

History

Jabonga traces its origin to a village formerly occupied by Negritoes and a few Christian immigrants led by a Manobo Negrito meztizo Angelecio Montante, also called Agaras. The village became known as “Celopan”, a name derived from the bamboos growing along the bank of the river that were made into smoking pipes.

Sometime during the middle part of the nineteenth century, the increasing number of inhabitants who were joined by other Christian immigrants from other places transferred to a new settlement in the present site of Colorado. By this time, The Spanish government was already sending missionaries to all parts of the island and the group that went up the Kalinawan River reached the settlement of Colorado, a name derived from the word “Colorado” meaning colored, because of the white spotted arms of Domingo Mondoy, the brave settler who dared to face the newcomers. Proceeding upstream, the missionaries reached Celopan and seeing a native inside a hut, the floor of which was just one meter above the water, they asked him what the place was called. Thinking that the Spaniards were referring to the hut, he answered “Habongan”. Thus, Celopan was renamed “Habongan” which was later became Jabonga.