Tago, Surigao del Sur

Tago, officially the Municipality of Tago (Surigaonon: Lungsod nan Tago; Tagalog: Bayan ng Tago), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Surigao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 35,329 people. [3]

Tago
Municipality
Municipality of Tago
Map of Surigao del Sur with Tago highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Tago
Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 9°01′16″N 126°13′54″E
Country Philippines
RegionCaraga (Region XIII)
ProvinceSurigao del Sur
District1st District
FoundedNovember 6, 1918
Barangays24 (see Barangays)
Government
 [1]
 • TypeSangguniang Bayan
 • MayorRogelio M. Pimentel
 • Vice MayorReynaldo G. Selades
 • RepresentativeProspero A. Pichay Jr.
 • Electorate26,804 voters (2019)
Area
 [2]
 • Total253.28 km2 (97.79 sq mi)
Elevation
6.0 m (19.7 ft)
Population
 (2015 census) [3]
 • Total35,329
 • Density140/km2 (360/sq mi)
 • Households
7,852
Economy
 • Income class2nd municipal income class
 • Poverty incidence38.98% (2015)[4]
 • Revenue₱107,990,466.64 (2016)
Time zoneUTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code
8302
PSGC
166818000
IDD : area code +63 (0)86
Climate typetropical rainforest climate
Native languagesSurigaonon
Agusan
Cebuano
Tagalog
Websitewww.tago.gov.ph

Geography

Tago is located in the central part of Surigao del Sur facing the Pacific Ocean. It lies between 126 degrees 12 minutes longitude and 9 degrees minutes north latitude. It is bounded on the north by the Capital Town of Tandag, on the north-west by Municipality of Lanuza, on the west by Municipality of San Miguel, on the southeast by the Municipality of Bayabas and on the south by the Municipalities of Cagwait and Marihatag.

Land area

Tago sits on a 343.52 km² of land which is about 7.55% of the total area of Surigao del Sur. In terms of area, Barangay Cabangahan is the largest with 20% of Tago’s land area while Barangay Purisima is the smallest with 1.51%.

Soil

Tago’s soil types vary; along the shoreline is sandy. Barangays Victoria and Dayoan have Bantug clay; Barangays Gamut, Kinabigtasan, Sumo-Sumo, Adlay and Anahao Daan have Butuan clay; while Bajao, Alba, Cayale, Bangsud and Anahao Bag-o have silt loam. Matho clay can be found in most of the mountain ranges from the seashore to the boundaries of Tandag-Tago and Tago-San Miguel.

Slope

Roughly 50% of Tago’s land area is relatively flat terrain (0-3%) while roughly 30%, mostly in the north-western portion, are steep mountains.

Climate

Tago has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round and with extremely heavy rainfall in January.

Climate data for Tago
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 28.9
(84.0)		 29.0
(84.2)		 29.9
(85.8)		 31.0
(87.8)		 31.7
(89.1)		 31.8
(89.2)		 31.7
(89.1)		 31.9
(89.4)		 31.9
(89.4)		 31.4
(88.5)		 30.5
(86.9)		 29.5
(85.1)		 30.8
(87.4)
Daily mean °C (°F) 25.5
(77.9)		 25.6
(78.1)		 26.2
(79.2)		 27.0
(80.6)		 27.6
(81.7)		 27.6
(81.7)		 27.4
(81.3)		 27.6
(81.7)		 27.5
(81.5)		 27.2
(81.0)		 26.7
(80.1)		 26.0
(78.8)		 26.8
(80.3)
Average low °C (°F) 22.2
(72.0)		 22.2
(72.0)		 22.5
(72.5)		 23.0
(73.4)		 23.6
(74.5)		 23.4
(74.1)		 23.2
(73.8)		 23.4
(74.1)		 23.2
(73.8)		 23.1
(73.6)		 22.9
(73.2)		 22.6
(72.7)		 22.9
(73.3)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 747
(29.4)		 629
(24.8)		 470
(18.5)		 335
(13.2)		 256
(10.1)		 180
(7.1)		 180
(7.1)		 150
(5.9)		 166
(6.5)		 210
(8.3)		 455
(17.9)		 638
(25.1)		 4,416
(173.9)
Source: Climate-Data.org[5]

Barangays

Tago is politically subdivided into 24 barangays.

  • Alba
  • Anahao Bag-o
  • Anahao Daan
  • Badong
  • Bajao
  • Bangsud
  • Cabangahan
  • Cagdapao
  • Camagong
  • Caras-an
  • Cayale
  • Dayo-an
  • Gamut
  • Jubang
  • Kinabigtasan
  • Layog
  • Lindoy
  • Mercedes
  • Purisima (Poblacion)
  • Sumo-sumo
  • Umbay
  • Unaban
  • Unidos
  • Victoria

History

The Municipality of Tago was born thrice because of the precariousness of political times back then. It saw the light of day for the first time in 1865 under the Maura Law of the Spanish Regime that lasted for three years. Tago must have reverted to its barrio status because records had it that for the second time, it regained its municipal status on 23 August 1883, just after it transferred from the so-called Daan Lungsod (Old Town), which was perennially flooded, to the place called Laguna. When the Philippine Revolution broke out in 1896, Tago was again reverted to its barrio status.

About the middle of the First World War, the people of Tago grew politically minded and in the summer of 1916, important leaders of then Barrio of Tago like Catalino Pareja, Calixtro Espinoza, Simon Luna, Miguel Montero, Juan L. Garcia, Feleciano Arquiza, Juan Pimentel, Lorenzo Elizalde, Canuto Consuegra, Lino Montero, Isidro Garcia, Pastor Cabrera, Bernardo Falcon, Felipe Lozada and Felix Rodrigues were determined to wrestle Tago’s political independence away from the mother Municipality of Tandag.

This breed of local leaders then submitted a duly signed petition to the Municipal Council of Tandag. But wanting the petition to gain more support, Catalino Pareja, along with councilors Lino Montero, Isidro Garcia and Zacarias Espinoza, sent the resolution directly to the Provincial Board of Surigao which in turn endorsed it to the Governor General in Manila.

The crude transportation system during that time made the Provincial Governor Ricardo Gonzales incur delays in sending the petition to Governor General Francis Burton Harrison. But faced with numerous pressing matters to attend to, Harrison issued Executive Order No. 41 only on 6 November 1918, thus converting Tago, for the third time, from being a barrio to a newborn town.

Appointed Municipal President effective 1 January 1919 was then Councilor Catalino Pareja with Calixtro Espinoza as Vice Municipal President while Messrs. Feleciano Arquiza, Juan L. Garcia, Lorenzo Elizalde and Canuto Consuegra were appointed as Municipal Councilors. On the same year, the first election was conducted and Catalino Pareja and Lino Montero were elected as Municipal President and Vice Municipal President respectively.

Reverend Father Nose Croonin was Tago’s Parish Priest at that time.

During much of World War II Tago remained free from Japanese occupation. In late April 1944 the Japanese occupied Tago. The Japanese caused much damage there when their first patrol entered town. In early May guerrillas affiliated with the 10th Military District of the U.S. Army attacked the Japanese. Eight Japanese were killed, but the guerrillas were unable to dislodge them. The Japanese remained until 1945 and left many houses destroyed.[6][7]

The Luna's, Elizalde, Falcon, Montero and Pimentel are the prominent family in Tago.

Demographics
Population census of Tago
YearPop.±% p.a.
1903 5,172—    
1939 15,271+3.05%
1948 23,036+4.67%
1960 21,346−0.63%
1970 17,550−1.94%
1975 19,693+2.34%
1980 21,192+1.48%
1990 23,987+1.25%
1995 27,100+2.31%
2000 29,721+2.00%
2007 31,342+0.74%
2010 33,993+3.00%
2015 35,329+0.74%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority [3] [8] [9][10]

Tago recorded an average growth rate of 2.3% from 1980 to 1990. But because of out-migration arising from lack of job opportunities, it had gone down to 1.86% between the periods 1995 and 2000. Among the barangays, Victoria registered the highest growth rate at 6.12% due to in-migration, the area being home to the Surigao del Sur Polytechnic State College while Barangay Mercedes posted a negative growth (-0.28%).

Population density

Population density is placed at 86 persons per km². Barangay Purisima is the most densely populated with 1,137 persons per km², higher than the municipal density. Barangay Umbay has the lowest population density with 16 persons per km².

Tourism

The Haguisan Kalipayan Hill, an eco-retreat where it offers dining, cottages and a function room for events/weddings. Within its vast area, fresh fish, crabs and prawns are available from its man-made ponds (seasonal). In the evenings, locals from Tago and nearby municipalities come to enjoy an ice cold beer and sing their hearts desire with KTV.

Education

Fifty-seven per cent (57%) of Tagon-ons are elementary graduates, 25% are high school graduates. Eighty-five per cent (85%) of them obtain college education but barely half of them hold academic degrees.

References
  1.  Municipality of Tago | (DILG)
  2. "Province: Surigao del Sur". PSGC Interactive. Quezon City, Philippines: Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  3. Census of Population (2015). "Caraga". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. PSA. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  4. "PSA releases the 2015 Municipal and City Level Poverty Estimates". Quezon City, Philippines. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  5. "Climate: Tago". Climate-Data.org. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  6. Virginia Hansen Holmes, Guerrilla Daughter (Kent, Ohio: Kent State U. Press, 2009), pp. 127, 166.
  7. Kent Holmes, Wendell Fertig and His Guerrilla Forces in the Philippines: Fighting the Japanese Occupation, 1942-1945 (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2015), pp. 72-3.
  8. Census of Population and Housing (2010). "Caraga". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. NSO. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  9. Censuses of Population (1903–2007). "Caraga". Table 1. Population Enumerated in Various Censuses by Province/Highly Urbanized City: 1903 to 2007. NSO.
  10. "Province of Surigao del Sur". Municipality Population Data. Local Water Utilities Administration Research Division. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
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