Butuan
Butuan, officially the City of 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 where it is geographically situated but has an administratively independent government. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 385,530 people making it the most populous city in Caraga Region.
It served as the former capital of the Rajahnate of Butuan before 1001 until about 1521. The city used to be known during that time as the best in gold and boat manufacturing in the entire Philippine archipelago, having traded with places as far as Champa, Ming, Srivijaya, Majapahit, and the Bengali coasts. It is located at the northeastern part of the Agusan Valley, Mindanao, sprawling across the Agusan River. It is bounded to the north, west and south by Agusan del Norte, to the east by Agusan del Sur and to the northwest by Butuan Bay.
Butuan was the capital of the province of Agusan del Norte until 2000, when Republic Act 8811 transferred the capital to Cabadbaran. For statistical and geographical purposes by the Philippine Statistics Authority, Butuan is grouped with Agusan del Norte but governed administratively independent from the province while legislatively administered by the province's 1st congressional district and also the most populous city in the province. However, the provincial government still holds office in Butuan, since the actual transfer of provincial offices to the new capital is still pending.
Etymology
The name "Butuan" is believed to have originated from the sour fruit locally called batuan. Other etymological sources say that it comes from a certain Datu Buntuan, a chieftain who once ruled over areas of the present-day city.According to Datu Makalipay, Butuan was named after the wife of Datu Balansag who was the tiniente de barangay of the area before.
History
Old Butuan
Butuan, during the pre-colonial times, was a precolonial city-state ruled by a rajah, an Indianized kingdom known for its metallurgic industry and sophisticated naval technology. Butuan flourished at the 10th and 11th centuries CE, and had an extensive trade network with the Champa civilization and the Srivijaya Empire.By 1001, Butuan had established contact with the Song dynasty of China. The History of Song recorded the appearance of a Butuan mission at the Chinese imperial court, and the rajahnate was described as a small Hindu country with a Buddhist monarchy, which had a regular trade connection with Champa. The mission, under a king named "Kiling", asked for equal status in court protocol with the Champa envoy, but ultimately was denied by the imperial court. However, under the reign of Sri Bata Shaja, the diplomatic equality was eventually granted to the kingdom, and as a result the diplomatic relations of the two nations reached its peak in the Yuan dynasty.
Evidence of these trading links is in the discovery of 11 balangay boats around Ambangan in Barangay Libertad, which was described as the only concentration of archaeological, ancient, ocean-going boats in Southeast Asia. More evidence of the post was the discovery of a village in Libertad that specialized in gold, as well as the discovery of deformed skulls similar to reports in Sulawesi. Other assorted artifacts have also found by locals and treasure hunters.
Colonial period
On March 31, 1521, an Easter Sunday, Ferdinand Magellan ordered a mass to be celebrated. This was officiated by Friar Pedro Valderrama, the Andalusian chaplain of the fleet, the only priest then. Another priest, the French Bernard Calmette had been marooned at Patagonia with Juan de Cartagena for being implicated in the mutiny at Puerto San Julián. Conducted near the shores of the island, the Holy First Mass marked the birth of Christianity in the Philippines. Rajah Colambu and Siagu were said to be among the first natives of the soon-to-be Spanish colony to attend the mass among other Mazaua inhabitants, together with visitors from Butuan who came with the entourage of Siagu, king of Butuan.Controversy has been generated regarding the holding of the first mass—whether it was held in Limasawa, Leyte or in Masao, Butuan, in the hidden isle made up of barangays Pinamanculan and Bancasi inside Butuan—in the latest discovered site in the small barangay of Barobo, situated near between Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur, or elsewhere. It is sure, however, that Ferdinand Magellan did not drop anchor by the mouth of Agusan River in 1521 and hold mass to commemorate the event which was held at Mazaua, an island separate from Butuan which, in the geographical conception of Europeans who wrote about it, was a larger entity than what it is now. Antonio Pigafetta who wrote an eyewitness account of Magellan's voyage described in text and in map a Butuan that stretched from today's Surigao up to the top edge of Zamboanga del Norte.
The first municipal election in Butuan took place in March 1902 in accordance with Public Law No. 82 which coincided with the American occupation of the place.
During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II, the Japanese enslaved local girls, teenagers, and young adults into becoming "comfort women", who they routinely gang-raped and murdered in "comfort stations" that they established in the city in 1942. More than half of Butuan, if not all of it, was burned when local guerrilla forces attacked the enemy garrison on March 12, 1943, in the Battle of Butuan. On January 17, 1945, guerrillas attacked Japanese troops on the road between Cabadbaran and Butuan to prevent the Japanese garrison at Butuan from being reinforced. When the guerrillas depleted their ammunition supply, they were forced to retreat. Later in 1945, the Philippine Commonwealth troops in Butuan together with the recognized guerrillas attacked the Japanese forces during the Battle of Agusan. On October 20, 1948, still recovering from the war, the entire municipality was ruined by a fire.
Modern era
By the late 1940s to the 1970s, Butuan's industry specialized in timber, earning it the nickname "Timber City of the South". The plentiful trees of the area invited many investors and migrants from Luzon and Visayas to the city, and inspired then Congressman Marcos M. Calo to file a bill elevating Butuan for cityhood. On August 2, 1950, this was passed, converting Butuan into a city.However, by the early 1980s, the logging industry of the city began to decline, although the city was still an economic haven for many investors. The city's main income by that time frame and until this day depended on small and medium business, and large-scale projects by investors. On February 7, 1995, the city was reclassified from a chartered city to a highly urbanized city. Sixteen days later, on February 23, the region of Caraga was created by virtue of Republic Act 7901, with Butuan as its regional center, and the provincial capital of Agusan del Norte. In 2000, Republic Act 8811 formally transferred the capital of Agusan del Norte from Butuan to Cabadbaran; however most provincial offices are still located in the city.
In 2021, Timber City Academy, a school in Butuan, was ravaged by a fire.
In the summer of 2023, the Agusan Capitol was rocked by a bomb threat, which prevented the governor from entering the city due to threats of a rebel presence, according to some reports. Later on December of that year, the city was ravaged by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake, which damaged many parts of the city's buildings, such as SM City Butuan, as well as schools and major bridges.
Geography
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the City of Butuan has a total land area of, which is roughly 4.1% of the total area of the Caraga region.Butuan is bordered by the municipalities of Magallanes, Agusan del Norte and Remedios T. Romualdez to the north, municipality of Sibagat, Agusan del Sur to the northeast, east and southeast, municipality of Las Nieves, Agusan del Norte to the south, municipality of Buenavista, Agusan del Norte to the west and Butuan Bay to the northwest.
Butuan is away from the city of Cabadbaran, the provincial capital of Agusan del Norte, to the north. It is also away from Bayugan to the east and away from Gingoog to the west.
Elevation
Butuan is located at. Elevation at these coordinates is estimated at 1.0 meter above sea level.Land Use
The existing land use of the city consists of the following uses: agriculture areas, forestland, grass/shrub/pasture land and other uses. Of the total forestland, 105 km2 is production forest areas while 167.5 km2 is protection forest areas.The forestland, as mentioned earlier, comprised both the production and protection forest. The classified forest is further specified as production forest and protection forest. In the production forest industrial tree species are mostly grown in the area. The protection forest on the other hand, is preserved to support and sustain necessary ecological performance. Included in this are the watershed areas in Taguibo, which is the main source of water in the area,
The city is endowed with swamplands near its coastal area. These swamp areas are interconnected with the waterways joined by the Agusan River. Most of the swamplands are actually mangroves that served as habitat to different marine species.
Filling material needs of the city are extracted usually from the riverbank of Taguibo River. Others are sourced out from promontories with special features and for special purpose.
The fishing ground of Butuan is Butuan Bay of which two coastal barangays are located. It extends some two kilometers to the sea and joins the Bohol Sea. These are the barangays of Lumbocan and Masao.