In the years prior to 1521, the native Muslims occupied the coastal plains of the Province , now known as Lanao del Norte. Datu Elme M. Mohammad, a datu and prosperous fisherman by occupation believed to have come from Cabingan, Sulu who occupied more than half of these municipality. When the Spanish colonizers failed to conquer wholly the southern part of the Philippines, the Americans proved otherwise by effectively gaining the support and confidence of the Muslims. Through negotiations with the local Muslim leaders, people particularly from Cebu and Bohol were encouraged to settle in the parts of Mindanao, presently known as Kauswagan. The influx of migrants particularly from the Visayas who intermingled with a small group of native Muslims without accompanying Muslim friends for it was only natural that the growing social milieu and diverse cultural heritage, customs, traditions and idiosyncrasies developed some tensions. But, on the whole, it has opened up previously uninhabited and richly endowed lands, thereby sowing the initial seed for development. The place settled-in by most of the settlers was known to be ‘KIADALICANAN” , but was later shortened to “ DALICANAN “ which literally means “ BEND “ . The settlers in this part were notably known to have come from Tudela, Misamis Occidental and said to have been led by the family of Restituto Cagas.
In July 1917, Dalicanan became the center of commerce and trade and was the most developed area. The Christian settlers renamed DALICANAN into KAUSWAGAN meaning “ Progress “ or “ Improvement “. Kauswagan later on became the set of Local Government and Dalicanan just a mere sitio. Kauswagan during this period was a barrio under the municipality of Iligan its mother town, 21 kilometers away to the North East Coast.
August 21, marked the first wave of settlers from Tabuelan , Cebu. Due to the increasing need of the growing population for education, the municipality was able to put up a complete primary school with seven (7) grades in June of 1939 known as Kauswagan Primary School.
In 1947, Mr. Pedro Pernia,Sr., Mr. Ricardo Capa, and Mr. Rustico Pañares together with Mr. Anacleto Conde, Mr. Santiago Ramirez and Mr. Jose Balazo drafted the papers and complied with the legal requirements for town’s separation from Iligan, its mother municipality.
Then on April 25,1948, by virtue of Executive Order No. 126 duly signed by President Manuel A. Roxas, it was created into a regular municipality. However, there was no existing government building to house the municipal hall at that time so a residential building owned by Mr. Eugenio Sombilon was utilized instead. Then Councilor Jose Q. Balazo became the first appointed Municipal Mayor, while Mr. Santiago Ramirez as the first appointed Vice Mayor and the first set of appointed councilors were : Captain Joseph T. Sanguila, Sr., Mr. Vicrtoriano Rafols., Mr. Demetrio Balbez, Mr. Tanguraz Caorong, Atty. Francisco Tamargo and Hilarion Noro.
After a few years, the Mohammad family donated a one hectare site for the construction of the municipal building. It was during the incumbency of Mayor Joseph Sanguila, Sr., that a Masbate type building was constructed. But it was only during the incumbency of Mayor Maximo P. Arnado, in 1975 that a two (2) storey municipal building worth Two Hundred Thousand ( P 200,000.00 ) Pesos was put up with the help of Abdullah D. Dimaporo.
Those who served as Municipal Mayors of Kauswagan from the time it was created to the present were :
1. Mr. Jose Q. Balazo -April 25,1948- March 1950 -Appointed
2. Mr. Santiago Ramirez -March 1950 to April 20,1950 - do-
3. Capt. Joseph T. Sanguila,Sr. -May 1950 to August 1951 - do-
4. Mr. Vicctoriano Rafols -Sept. 1951 to Dec. 31,1951 - do-
5. Capt. Joseph T. Sanguila,Sr. -Jan. 1952 to 1955 - Elected
6. Mr. Teodulfo D. Maslog,Sr. -Jan. 1956-1959 - Elected
7. Capt. Joseph T. Sanguila, Sr. -Jan. 1960 to 1963 - Elected
8. Dr. Maximo P. Arnado, Sr. -Feb. 15,11979 to Apr.15,1986 - Elected
9. Maj. Valentine E. Tarroza, Sr. -May 1974 to Feb. 12, 1979 - Appointed
10.Dr. maximo P. Arnado Sr. -Feb.15,1979 to Apr. 115,1986 - Elected
11. Atty. Myron B. Rico -April 15,1986 to Dec. 1, 1987 - Des. OIC
12.Mr. Joseph M. Sanguila,Jr. -Dec. 2, 1987 to Jan. 3,1988 - Desig.
13. Mr. Pantaleon T. Hontiveros,Sr. -Jan. 4, 1988 to Feb. 10, 1988 - do-
14. Atty. Myron B. Rico -Feb. 11,1988 to June 1998 - Elected
As duly elected on Jan. 25,1988
- Local Elections, re-elected May 1,1992 and May 9, 1995
15. Hon. Mohammad Moamar Jack S. Maruhom – July 1, 1998 – May 11, 2007 - Elected
16. Hon. Yasser Hadji Hasan Samporna - June 30, 2007 - June 30, 2010 - Elected
17. Hon. Rommel C. Arnado - July 1, 2010 to present - Elected
II. GEO-PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT :
1. Geographic Location :
Kauswagan is the second coastal municipality of the Province of Lanao del Norte located near the Southern boundary. It lies on the mid-central portion of the Northwestern Mindanao coastline with a nautical grid coordinate off 8*deg 12” longitude and 124 deg.. 5” east latitude. It is located twenty (20) kilometers away from Iligan City; bounded on the North by Iligan Bay; on the East by larapan River, which is the common boundary with the Municipality of Linamon; on the South by the Municipality of Poona Piaagapo and on the West by the Municipalitt of Bacolod with Rupagan River as the common boundary.
2. Political Subdivision and Land Area :
Kauswagan’s total lland area is 6,037.59299 hectares representing 2.0 % of the province’s toptal land area. It covers thirteen (13) barangays namely; Poblacion, bagumbayan, baraason, CAyontor, Delabayannn, Inudaran, kawit Occidental, kawit Oriental, Libertad, Paiton, Tacub, Tingintingin, and Tugar.. Of all these barangays, Paiton, tacub and Baraason, recorded with the largest land areas cccorresponding to 846.6421, and 641.5434 hectares respectively. All these three (3) barangays represented a ccombined 38,28% of the municiplaity’s total land area. (See Table 1, By Land Area in Hectares and Percent to Total).
Table No. 1
Land Area by Barangay and Percent to Total
Barangay | Land Area (has.) | Percent (%) |
POBLACION | 41.8025 | 0.69 |
BAGUMBAYAN | 403.8665 | 6.69 |
BARAASON | 641.5434 | 10.63 |
CAYONTOR | 263.1372 | 4.36 |
DELABAYAN | 296.7588 | 4.92 |
INUDARAN | 518.6876 | 8.59 |
KAWIT OCCIDENTAL | 511.5278 | 8.47 |
KAWIT ORIENTAL | 458.8730 | 7.60 |
LIBERTAD | 482.9531 | 8.00 |
PAITON | 846.6421 | 14.02 |
TACUB | 823.1850 | 13.63 |
TINGINTINGIN | 362.0274 | 6.00 |
TUGAR | 386.5885 | 6.40 |
TOTAL | 6,037.5929 | 100.00 |
