Digos City is a 3rd class city in the province of Davao del Sur, Philippines. It is the capital city of Davao del Sur. The city lies on the eastern shores of Davao Gulf on the island of Mindanao. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 125,171 people in 26,306 households. A city (lungsod, sometimes siyudad, in Filipino) is a tier of local government in the Philippines. ... Map of the Philippines showing all the regions and their provinces. ... Davao del Sur is a province of the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. ... Davao Gulf is a gulf found in Mindanao in the Philippines. ... Map of the Philippines showing the island groups of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines and one of the three island groups in the country, with Luzon and Visayas being the other two. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

In 2000, Digos was converted into a city.^[1]

Facts and figures

• Land area :287.1 km².
• Total population (As of May 2000) : 125,171
• Number of households : 29,450
• Population density : 486/km².
• Number of barangays : 26
• Actual revenue (2003) : PhP 490,861,368.26
• Location : Southern foothills of Mt. Apo

History

In the early days, Digos was a watercourse, a meeting place of inhabitants belonging to the Indonesian-Malay settled along the southern foothills of Mt. Apo. The Digos River meets the Davao Gulf and it is ideal for fishing and bathing.

During the Spanish Era, a group of natives carrying bows and arrows were approached by some Spaniards traversing the very fertile tracks of land in Davao. One Lopez Jaena Pacheco, a conquistador during the administration of Governor Claveria serving as the head of the group, inquired about the name of the place from the barefooted natives. Believing that the Spaniards were asking where they were bound to, the natives answered "Padigos", which means "to take a bathe". Since then the place was identified as Digos.

As a portion of the "food bowl" of the province of Davao del Sur, otherwise known as the Padada Valley, Digos lured many migrants, majority of whom came from the Visayas and Ilocos regions to settle permanently in the area. Before World War II, an enterprising American by the name of N.E. Crumb leased 1,024 hectares and transformed the place into an Abaca Plantation. This became the hub of economic activity in the locality during those days.

Through the initiation of then Congressman Apolinario Cabigon, Digos, became a regular municipality in 1949 by virtue of Presidential Executive Order No. 236, dated July 19, 1949 issued by President Quirino. Its Coverage included the barrios of Tres de Mayo, Goma Bansalan, Matanao, Darapuay and the Poblacion where the seat of government was located. Before its creation into a municipality, Digos was a barrio of Sta. cruz, a town 16 kilometers away. On 19 July 1949, the town was formally inaugurated with Benito Rabor appointed as Mayor. July 19 is the 200th day (201st in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 165 days remaining. ...

Digos in later years, before its conversion into a city, was regarded as the capital town of the Province of Davao del Sur, long before it gained the status of a First Class Municipality in 1993, being center for trade, commerce and education, accruing to its strategic location at the cross point of two principal thoroughfares in the south.

In July 1998, the bid to convert into a city was moved and initiated by Hon. Mayor Arsenio A. Latasa, considering its very satisfactory qualificationas required for in R.A. 7160

House Bill No. 5672 dated November 24, 1998 of Congress authored by Hon. Congressman Douglas Ra. Cagas, led to the drafting of Republic Act 8798, converting the Municipality of Digos into a component City of Davao del Sur, which was signed by President Joseph E. Estrada on July 14, 2000 and ratified by the Digoseños on September 8, 2000.

Apparently, Digos will enter in the new era of development in the new millenium.

2006

In March 29, 2006, a bomb exploded inside a passenger bus. The explosion happened during it's stay in the Digos Satellite Terminal. It resulted to 17 injuries. It was said that rebels are responsible for adverse event.

Commerce and industry

There are several rural, commercial, government banks in the city namely:

• Landbank of the Philippines (Rizal Ave) (with ATM)
• Equitable PCI Bank (Rizal Ave)
• Metropolitan and Trust Bank (Metrobank) (Estrada St) (with ATM, Cirrus Maestro)
• Bank of the Philppine Islands (Rizal Ave) (with ATM, Cirrus Maestro)
• Development Bank of the Philippines (Quezon Ave) (with ATM)
• Philippine National Bank (Quezon Ave) (with ATM)
• Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (Rizal Ave) (with ATM)
• One Network Bank (Rizal Ave) (with ATM)
• Rural Bank of Digos (Rizal Ave)
• Rural Bank of Subang Daku (Estrada St)
• Rural Bank Of Tagum (Luna St)
• Cooperative Bank of Davao del Sur (Luna St)
• Peninsula Bank (PenBank) (Luna St)
• Bank of Koronadal (Luna St)

Pawnshop, lenders and financially institutions are largely present in the city.

The only notable industrial corporation in the city is the Nakayama Group. It has a plant tile and a computer graphic center. It is a Japanese owned company.

Other industries are also operating in the city in small and medium scale.

Places and events

There are some notable places that you can shop and dine:

• Gaisano Center of Digos (Estrada St.)
• DC Square Mall (Rizal Ave)
• Davao Central Warehouse Club (Rizal Ave.)
• Novo Department Store (Qezon Ave)

Digos has long beaches with black and white sand. One can also hike the mountains.

Fiestas and Fiestivals

• Sinulog sa Digos - every January 15

• San Isidrio Labrador - every May 15

• Mary Mediatrix - every August 22

• Araw ng Digos - every September 8

Barangays

Digos City is politically subdivided into 26 barangays. A barangay (Tagalog: baranggay , pronounced as ba-rang-gai, gai as in guy), also known by its former name, the barrio, is the smallest local government unit in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward. ...

References

1. ^ NSCB - 2001 Factsheet - 12 New Cities Created, July-December 2000.

External links

• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• 2000 Philippine Census Information
• [1]
• Davao Travel Guide