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Municipal/City/Provincial Profiles |
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City
of Pagadian Historical Background Origin of the Name The city proper and surrounding areas of Muricay, Tawagan Sur and White Beach was originally named "Talpokan," an indigenous word that means "a place of numerous springs". During the early part of the 20th century, the place was called "Pangad-ye-an", a Visayan word that means,"a place to be prayed for" because of a Malaria epidemic that nearly wiped out the early christian population, majority of which came from the Visayas. An alternative theory suggests that it was named after a bird that the native inhabitants call "Gagadian". However, the officially accepted version on how it came to be called "Pagadian" is derived from the Iranun language "pagad" (wait) and "padian" (market). The area had been a trading post and market during the Maguindanao Sultanate period. Early Settlers The first inhabitants were the Subanens, a tribe native to the Western Mindanao Region. Then the Muslim settlers arrived sometime in the 15th century, established a flourishing community and introduced the Islam faith. In the early part of the 20th century, the Muslim inhabitants were under the leadership of Datu Akob, an Iranun Datu whose daughter caught the fancy of Datu Macaumbang, also an Iranun (Sultan of Taga Nonok) from the Municipalities of Malabang and Tukuran. With the approval of Datu Akob, Datu Macaumbang married the beautiful Bai Putri Panyawan Akob. At the same time the 1st cousin of Datu Macaumbang (Sultan of taga Nonok), Datu Mama Lapat Jamerol an Maranao - Iranun Datu, married the second daughter of Datu Akob, Bai Putri Concona Akob. Upon the death of Datu Akob, his son-in-law, Datu Macaumbang assumed leadership and established the territorial boundaries of the present city proper, from Balangasan River in the West, to Tawagan Sur River in the East. Because of the prevalent banditry and piracy in his settlements at that time, Datu Macaumbang requested the assistance of the Philippine Constabulary. A detachment led by Col. Tiburcio Ballesteros from Malangas stationed themselves at Dumagoc Island. The arrival of the soldiers restored peace and order thereby attracting the influx of settlers from far-flung regions of the Visayas and Luzon, and from the neighboring places in Mindanao. Spread of Christianity Christian settlers started arriving in the early part of the 20th century, most of which came from Cebu, as evident on the veneration of the Santo Niņo de Cebú. The increasing Christian population prompted the creation of the Parish of Pagadian in 1938 and was administered jointly by the Jesuits, Columban and Filipino priests. The original Sto. Niņo Church of Pagadian was right across the city plaza, built on the site where the San Jose Parish church now stands; Fr. Sean Nolan,SSC served as the first parish priest. The present Sto. Niņo Cathedral is now located in Santiago District and was built in 1968. Pagadian Parish became a diocese on November 2, 1971 and is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Ozamiz. Msgr. Jesus B. Tuquib served as the first bishop and was installed on February 24, 1973. At that time, the Columban Fathers took care of the apostolic services for the first 13 parishes in the newly-formed diocese. They also took after the missions of the Jesuits. Currently, the Diocese of Pagadian has 24 parishes and covers a population of 711,244. The diocese covers the city and 21 other municipalities in the northern and eastern parts of Zamboanga del Sur. The city celebrates its Annual Fiesta every 3rd Sunday of January in honor of its patron saint, the Holy Child Jesus (Sto. Niņo) which also coincides with the feastday of Cebu City.
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The NSCB Regional Unit IX
office is located at
Email to:
nscb09@gmail.com Updated
01/13/2010 |
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