Cateel
Cateel, officially the Municipality of Cateel, is a municipality in the province of Davao Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 44,207 people.
Cateel is the home of the Aliwagwag Falls, located at barangay Aliwagwag within the Aliwagwag Protected Landscape. It is a towering stream of waterfalls considered by hydraulic engineers as the highest in the country and regarded as one of the most beautiful falls in the Philippines. It is a series of 84 falls appearing like a stairway to heaven, with various heights among the steps ranging from. The fall at one step is measured at and another at. Overall, Aliwagwag Falls has a height of and a width of. All these are set in the midst of a virgin forest. A river settles at the foot of the falls with 13 rapids to cross.
History
Cateel is the first municipality in Mindanao. It was the place where Spaniards first docked in Mindanao which reflects how majority of its primary inhabitants converted to Catholicism.In 1959, Mainit and Alegria were converted into barrios.
The municipality was one of the hardest-hit towns of Typhoon Bopha when it crossed the town on December 3, 2012.