MISAMIS ORIENTAL
"WE ADD VALUE"

HISTORY

The Name. The name Misamis Oriental was derived from the word Misa, a Spanish term for mass or a church rite. When Christianity was still new in the Philippines, the converts were usually heard to shout "Misa!, Misa!" everytime the priests travelled in the area. Thus, over a period of time, the Spanish missionaries called the province "Misamis".

Other sources revealed the word "Misamis" is derived from "KUYAMIS", a variety of sweet coconut which was the staple food of the earliest known negrito settlers of the territory. The word "KUYAMIS" was corrupted to Misamis when the Spanish colonizers came.

Early Settlers. The early settlers of the territory were the Negritoes. Centuries later, people of Malay descent with various blend of Mongolic characteristics took control of the rich Cagayan River coastal plains. In 1500, the Mindanao area including Misamis Oriental had fallen under Muslim rule.

Political Aspect. Misamis used to be a part of the province of Cebu. In 1818, it became a corregimiento comprised of four (4) Partidos or division : Partido de Misamis, Partido de Cagayan and Partido de Catarman.

In the latter part of the 19th century, Misamis was one of the six (6) districts of Mindanao. At the close of Spanish era, it was one of the seven (7) districts of Mindanao and Sulu with Cagayan de Misamis (now Cagayan de Oro) as its capital.

When it was still a part of Cebu, there were twelve (12) Spaniards and nine (9) filipinos who successively served as governadores with Mayor Carabello as the first governor in 1874.

Act No. 3354 approved in November 30, 1927 which was amended by Act No. 3777 adopted in November 28, 1939 formally divided Misamis into two (2) provinces (Misamis Oriental and Misamis Occidental).

When Misamis Oriental became a separate province in 1939, Don Gregorio Pelaez was its first Governor. Since then, there were twenty-seven (27) governatorial terms of office occupied by governors who were either elected or appointed by operation of law.

Honorable Vicente Y. Emano was elected governor during the first local election held on January 18, 1988 after the lifting of martial law in 1974.

Last May 1998, Honorable Antonio P. Calingin was elected as the Governor of Misamis Oriental.

Location. Misamis Oriental is situated along the northern coast of the resource-rich Mindanao island, 491 miles (810 air kilometers) south of Manila. The province is one of the four (4) provinces of Northern Mindanao. It is bounded on the north by Macajalar Bay, on the west by Iligan Bay; on the east by Agusan del Norte; and on the south and southwest by the provinces of Bukidnon and Lanao del Norte respectively. It has two (2) major bays- Macajalar Bay on the western part and Gingoog Bay on the eastern portion. Its strategic location and large open bays make the province the principal distribution center of the region.

The province is accessible by air, land and water transportation from Manila in Luzon and Cebu in the Visayas.

Land Area. The province has a total land area of 3,570.01 square kilometers. This include the cities of Gingoog and Cagayan de Oro. Claveria, the only land-locked municipality, has the largest area at 894.90 square kilometers while the smallest municipality is Binuangan with an area of 30.00 square kilometers.

Land Use Classification. The province is generally classified into forest land (47% or 168,846 hectares) while 53% or 173,944 hectares are alienable and disposable lands. But as of 1996, DENR-10 reported that forestland now occupies only an area of 6,243 hectares.

Political Subdivision. The province has 24 municipalities, (14 on the eastern side/10 on the western side); two (2) cities (Cagayan de Oro and Gingoog) and a total of 502 barangays. The farthest municipality on the western side is Lugait and on the eastern side is Magsaysay.

Topography. Misamis Oriental is characteriscally rugged where mountains and hills occupy approximately seventy percent (70%) of total land area. The highlands are punctuated by mountain ranges, coastal plains, valleys and is traversed by rivers of various forms and sizes that provide adequate underground water supply throughout the area. On the eastern portion of the province are two (2) inactive volcanic cones - Mt. Balatucan, which at 2,560 meters, is the highes peak and Mt. Lumot.

The province has a terrain that is dominantly undulating to rolling and rolling to hilly. Slope range of these terrains are 8%-18% and 18%-30% respectively.

Soil Type. The soil type in most areas is predominantly clay. Alluvium, shale, sandstones, corraline and limestone are also abundant in some municipalities.

Climate. Blissfully located outside the typhoon belt and earthquake faults. The province's average annual rainful in 1997 was recorded at 97.6mm with an average temperature and humidity of 27.6 degree centigrade and 80.3%, respectively. It has an average of 156 rainy days. Maximum wind speed was registered in 1992 at 17 meters/seconds; the slowest was at 6 m/sec. experienced on November 1995.

Air Quality. Based on tests conducted by DENR-10 IN 1996, laboratory analyses showed that the concentration of suspended particulate ranges from 50.44 mg/NCM to 116.40 mg/NCM. This level is way below the ambient air quality standard of 230 ug/NCM.

In terms of sulfur dioxide levels, 1.0 ug/NCM to 5.12 ug/NCM were detected which were also way below the standard of 180 ug/NCM.

Initial evaluation of the quality of air in the province can be describe as generally good.

THE PEOPLE

Population. Data from the National Statistic Office (NSO) showed that Misamis Oriental has the largest population among the four (4) provinces in Northern Mindanao region with an average growth rate of 3.26%. Cagayan de Oro City, considered one of the premier cities in the country, registered a 4.75% growth rate surpassing other urban centers.
 

No. of Households. In 1995, the number of households in Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro City was recorded at 198,558 and 84,085 respectively. The average household size is 2.12.

Languages Spoken. Local dialect is Cebuano. Majority of the people however can speak and generally understand Filipino and English.

Religious Affiliations. The dominant religion is Roman Catholic but several religious affiliations also exist provincewide. Among these are Protestants, Baptists, Fundamentalists, Iglesia ni Kristo, Philippine Independent Church, Pentecostal and Islam.

Average Monthly Family Income.  The average monthly family income and expenditure in 1995 was recorded at  PhP6,666.00 PhP5,000.00 respectively.

Labor Force. Being the region's educational center, one of the major assets of the province is its human resource. Highly educated and trainable labor force composed of young professionals, technical people and skilled workforce are readily available in the area.

 Labor Force, Misamis Oriental
As of January 1999

 
RAW MATERIAL RESOURCES

Crops. Misamis Oriental is self-sufficient in some agricultural crops. Almost half (43%) of the province's total land area is planted to various industrial and cash crops. The top five (5) agricultural products are coconut, banana, corn, rice, papaya and cassava.

The province is also one of the country's major producer of coconut. This explains the presence of coco-based processing plants in the province such as Pilipinas Kao, Inc., Fiesta Brands, IndoPhil, LKK and Sons Milling Corporation, Pacific Activated Carbon Company, Lina Holdings and Cagayan de Oro Oil Mill.

From 1993 to 1997, the production of selected crops showed a declining trend. The decrease is attributed largely to the reclassification and subsequent conversion of agricultural lands to other land uses.

Below is the 1999 data on selected crops, its production and consumption in Metric Tons :

Livestock and Poultry. Except for poultry, livestock production in the province showed an erratic trend from 1993 to 1997. The entry of poultry growers and leading multi-national food processors promoting contract-growing schemes contributed mainly to the growth of the industry.

Marine/Coastal Resources. Twenty-three (23) of the twenty-four (24) municipalities are located along the coastline. Hence, a good number of families depend on fishing as their major source of income. The province has three (3) fishing grounds - Macajalar, Gingoog and Balingasag - but with insufficient production. Thus, it has to continually depend on the steady supply of fish from Zamboanga, Bohol, Cotabato and the Panguil Bay area. For 1999, it was recorded that total fish production was 6,875.85 MT while its total consumption reached to 25,069.50 MT.

Coral reefs are found along the coastline of Macajalar Bay (Banbayan Point), Gorda Point in Balingasag and Constancia and Agutayan reefs in Jasaan. Mangrove forest covers a total aggregate area of 124 hectares (Opol, El Salvador, Alubijid, Magsaysay). Potential mangrove area planted to Bacauan cover 90 hectares.

Mineral Resources. Region 10 is one of the most active region in Mindanao in terms of mining activities. It is a potential growth area considering its abundant and untapped natural resources.

Misamis Oriental is rich in some mineral deposits with cement raw material and clay deposits topping the list. The mining activities in the province are for chromite, feldspar, silica, bentonite, gold, coal, phosphatic deposit, guano, shale, and limestone. For the period January to June 2000, DENR Region 10 has the following record on metallic and non-metallic minerals :

Below is the mineral production for the period January to June 2000:

Forest Resource. The vegetative cover of the classified forest lands consists of virgin/old growth, residual/young growth, mossy, mangrove, brushland and other land uses like plantation forest and ISF-cultivated areas. Dipterocarp species abound in old and second growth forest, most common are the Philippine Mahogany species such as Red and White Lauan, Mayapis, etc.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND UTILITIES

Telecommunication. As of March 2000, five (5) telephone companies already operate in Cagayan de Oro City and Misamis Oriental. These telephone operators have installed a total of 5,629 lines of which 3,736  have been subscribed. The two (2) major carriers (MISORTEL and PHILCOM) installed a state-of-the-art digital system that uses Alcatel 12-switch providing IDD & NDD services with a combined capacity of 43,708 lines.

The operation of five (5) companies providing CMTS (Cellular Mobile Telephone System) to the area has improved further the communication facilities. These are Extelcom, Globetel, Islacom, Mobiline and SMART.

Telephone Expansion Program. Based on the existing carrier's expansion plans, over 50,000 additional lines will be installed in the area over the next two (2) years.

Negotiation are on-going for the interconnection of Philcom and Misortel. Italtel and Misortel are already interconnected.

Telephone Density. As of 1st quarter of 2000 - telephone density index (TDI) of Misamis Oriental was estimated at 1.19 lines/100 persons. 

Power. The power requirement of the province is supplied by NAPOCOR's Agus grid in Iligan City and Pulangi IV Hydroelectric Plant in Bukidnon. It is being served by five (5) power utilities. Misamis Oriental is being service by CEPALCO, Moresco I and Moresco II.  Majority of the firms located in the Phividec area are being serviced by the Cagayan de Oro Electric Power and Light Company (CEPALCO). Some companies are directly connected with NAPOCOR. The rest of the municipalities are served by Misamis Oriental Electric Service Cooperative I (609 MVA - on the eastern side) and the Misamis Oriental Electric Service Cooperative II (30 MVA - on the western side). These utilities have energized 98% of the province.
 

The operation of MINERGY and Northern Mindanao Power Corporation improved further the supply capability and reliability of power in the province. A subsidiary of CEPALCO, MINERGY operates a land-based power generating plant with a total capacity of 18.90 MW. The Northern Mindanao Power Corporation, a project of Alsons Power Holding Corporation, also operates a Bunker "C" - fired Diesel Power Generating Plant with an annual registered capacity of 58 MW.

Proposed Project. In 1997, NPC bidded-out the 200-MW Mindanao Coal I Project to Chinese Firm - Harbin Power. The plant will be located within the ISM site at PIEMO for the exclusive use of the steel complex. The plant, estimated to cost $300M is due for commissioning by year 2000.

The 15 MW small hydro-electric power project in Odiongan, Gingoog City is also proposed to be constructed.

Water. The water supply of the province is sourced from deep and shallow wells and spring. It has 48 rivers (with discharge capacity of 42,600.71 liters/seconds); 60 creeks; 38 springs (48,432 cu.m./day) and 2 natural lakes. All municipalities have efficient waterworks systems. Cagayan de Oro and Gingoog cities have their own water utilities - the Cagayan de Oro City Water District and Gingoog Water District.

A total of 18 rivers (those with high volumetric discharge rates) were tapped by NIA for irrigation purposes. The impounding dams constructed serviced 27 irrigation facilities. DENR also constructed 6 intake boxes, 8 reservoirs, 10 small water impounding dams for irrigable agricultural areas of 1,538 upland beneficiaries.

The PHIVIDEC Industrial Estate has its own water system with a discharge capacity of 4.2 million cubic meters for industrial use and 4.3 million cubic meters for domestic consumption.

Road Network. The road network of the province and that of Cagayan de Oro City already reached 797.133 and 406.87941 kilometers respectively. This already include the 210.137 kilometers all-weather, two-lane highway connecting the province to Iligan and Butuan cities. Davao is accessible via Butuan City and the alternative route which passes through the province of Bukidnon. 

Bridges. There are 155 bridges spanning a total of 6,598.422 linear meters in the entire province classified into:

Airport and Airline Services. A trunkline airport is located at Lumbia, eight (8) kilometers from Cagayan de Oro City. It serves Misamis Oriental and the rest of Norhtern and Western Mindanao area. It has regular flights to and from Manila, Cebu, Davao and Cotabato.

The proposed international-standard CIC airport is programmed to be constructed in the municipality of Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental.

Lumbia airport is being served by the following domestic airlines for the mobility of people and cargo :