Maguindanao (; Maguindanaon: Dairat nu Magindanaw; Iranun: Perobinsia a Magindanao; ) was a province of the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). From 2014 to 2023, its provincial capital was Buluan, but the legislative branch of government, the Maguindanao Provincial Board, convened at the old provincial capitol in Sultan Kudarat. It bordered Lanao del Sur to the north, Cotabato to the east, Sultan Kudarat to the south, and Illana Bay to the west.
It is now used collectively to refer to the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte, with which it was replaced with since January 9, 2023 after a division of the province was approved in a plebiscite on September 18, 2022 .
History Maguindanao Sultanate
According to Maguindanao royal records, Sharif Muhammad Kabungsuwan of Johor introduced Islam to the Maguindanaos at the end of the 15th century. He subsequently married a Maranao princess of Malabang and established the Sultanate of Maguindanao.
Its capital of Kuta Watu (modern-day Cotabato) formed the sultanate's heartland but its influence extended from the Zamboanga Peninsula to Sarangani Bay and Davao.
In the 1660s, Dutch vessels from Ternate and Tidore often stopped by Maguindanao to purchase rice, beeswax and tobacco.
Spanish attacks
The Spanish frequently attacked the sultanate starting in the 1600s. In the middle of the 19th century, the Spanish were able to build a military post at what is now Barangay Tamontaka, Cotabato City.
American rule
The historical province of Cotabato covered the present area of Maguindanao. In 1903, the American colonial government established the Moro Province and made Cotabato as one of its districts. Upon the conversion of the Moro Province into the Department of Mindanao and Sulu in 1914, the districts were made into provinces.
World War II
In 1942, the Japanese forces first attacked what is now Maguindanao.
In 1945, Maguindanao was liberated by allied Philippine Commonwealth troops and Maguindanaon guerrilla units after defeating the Japanese Imperial forces in the Battle of Maguindanao during the Second World War.
Third Philippine Republic onwards Reinstitution as a province The territory of the old province of Cotabato was reduced in 1966 when several of its municipalities were separated from it and constituted into the newly created province of South Cotabato. In 1973, Cotabato was dissolved when it was split to create three new provinces: Maguindanao, (North) Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.
Maguindanao was the only Muslim-majority province of the four created out of the original Cotabato Province. In 1989, majority of its voters opted to join the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao but Cotabato City did not. Despite this, the city would later serve as the provisional capital of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and host line agency offices for the province.
On August 23, 1992, 16 senior officers of the insurgent Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) operating in the province were arrested by intelligence operatives of the Philippine National Police, with officials considering it to be a significant hit against the organization's progress in the region.
Shariff Kabunsuan creation and nullification
On October 31, 2006, Maguindanao voters approved the creation of a new province to be composed of 10 towns from the province. Of more than 500,000 voters registered, 285,372 favored the creation of the province, and 8,802 voted against it. The new province, Shariff Kabunsuan, established through Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act No. 201 by the ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly, became the country's 80th province and the 6th in the ARMM. It was composed of the towns of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Kabuntalan, Upi, Sultan Kudarat, Datu Blah T. Sinsuat, Sultan Mastura, Parang, Buldon, Matanog and Barira. However, in July 2008, the Supreme Court, in an 8–6 vote, nullified the province's creation, restoring its municipalities to Maguindanao, ruling that "Only Congress can create provinces and cities because the creation of provinces and cities necessarily includes the creation of legislative districts".
2009 election violence
On November 23, 2009, a 2010 gubernatorial election caravan supporting Esmael Mangudadatu, vice mayor of Buluan, was attacked. Fifty-seven people were killed, including Mangudadatu's wife and sisters, supporters, local journalists, and bystanders. On December 4, 2009, a number of homes belonging to the Ampatuan political family were raided in connection with the massacre.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo officially declared martial law in the province of Maguindanao on December 5, 2009, Saturday morning.
In a press conference past 7 am, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita announced Proclamation No. 1959 declaring a state of martial law and suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in the province of Maguindanao, except for certain areas identified as bailiwicks of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) separatists.
The declaration of martial law led to the "arrests without warrants" of other members of the Ampatuan clan who have been linked to the November 23 massacre of 58 civilians.
On August 15, 2011, Mangudadatu and his convoy were ambushed as they were on their way to his birthday celebration.
Mamasapano clash
On January 25, 2015, 44 members of the Special Action Force were killed after they killed the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist Zulkifli Abdhir Marwan, by allegedly Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in Mamasapano.
2016 El Niño
In February 2016, Maguindanao experienced the effects of the 2014–16 El Niño, causing destruction on rice and corn fields due to drought. The province declared a state of calamity in response to the damages caused.
Abolition and division
In the 17th Congress, then House Deputy Speaker Bai Sandra Sema (barred by law to run for another term in her current district in 2019) introduced a bill on March 2, 2017, seeking to establish a new province called Maguindanao North.Resolution from the Bangsamoro Transition Authority:—Proposed Resolution No. 248—Resolution No. 83All were retrieved September 23, 2022.
Later in the 18th Congress, two new House bills were filed: one by First District Rep. Datu Roonie Sinsuat Sr., Sema's successor, seeking the creation of Western Maguindanao; another by Second District Rep. Esmael Mangudadatu with same naming proposal as Sema. A substitute bill was later authored by both Maguindanao representatives along with Tarlac Third District Rep. Noel Villanueva, and approved in the final reading in 2020. In the Senate, three bills were also filed seeking for the same division with Sen. Bong Revilla pursuing instead the same naming proposal as Sinsuat. This time, those bills, except one by Revilla, would name the divided provinces as Northern Maguindanao and Southern Maguindanao.
In the substitute bill in the House, Northern Maguindanao will consist the municipalities that became part of Shariff Kabunsuan along with Talitay, and its designated provincial capital will be Datu Odin Sinsuat, while the capital of Southern Maguindanao will be Buluan. Both proposed provinces will comprise a lone legislative district. Prior to the final version, the municipalities of Datu Anggal Midtimbang (by Sema and Mangudadatu) and South Upi (by Sinsuat) were proposed to became part of Maguindanao North/Western Maguindanao; Sultan Kudarat was proposed by Mangudadatu to be the capital of the then-proposed province.
The proposed division was signed by Pres. Rodrigo Duterte on May 27, 2021, as Republic Act No. 11550, with new provinces to be named Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur (named as the mother province of Maguindanao). The original schedule of the plebiscite, to be supervised by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), was in September 2021, ninety days after the effectivity of the law, but was postponed as the COMELEC was preparing for the 2022 general election.
RA No. 11550 was ratified on September 17, 2022, in a plebiscite, thus dividing Maguindanao on January 9, 2023. Among the province-wide plebiscites, it was the most participated in terms of number of registered and actual voters, with the voter turnout as the second highest, only behind that of the 1998 plebiscite creating and taking Compostela Valley from Davao del Norte. With that division, the number of provinces in the country has raised to 82.
A transition period would take place which lasted until January 9, 2023.
Geography
Maguindanao was situated in the central section of Mindanao, bordered by Lanao del Sur to the north, Cotabato to the east, Sultan Kudarat to the south, and Illana Bay to the west.
Administrative divisions Maguindanao comprised 36 municipalities, further subdivided into 508 barangays. Cotabato City, although geographically grouped with Maguindanao, was administratively independent from the province.
The province was divided into two congressional districts. In October 2006, the first congressional district was split off into a new province, Shariff Kabunsuan. However, the ARMM's Act creating the province was nullified by the Supreme Court in July 2008, on the basis that creation of a province is a function of the Philippine legislature. The area since reverted to the province of Maguindanao.
City municipality District Population Area Density Coordinates Ampatuan 2nd 17,800 11 Barira 1st 19,686 14 Buldon 1st 33,729 15 Buluan † 2nd 38,106 7 Cotabato City ∗∗ Lone — 299,438 271,786 37 Datu Abdullah Sangki 2nd 17,079 10 Datu Anggal Midtimbang 2nd 13,339 7 Datu Blah T. Sinsuat 1st 16,533 13 Datu Hoffer Ampatuan 2nd 16,295 11 Datu Montawal 2nd 31,265 11 Datu Odin Sinsuat 1st 76,332 34 Datu Paglas 2nd 20,290 23 Datu Piang 2nd 28,492 16 Datu Salibo 2nd 15,062 – – – – 17 Datu Saudi Ampatuan 2nd 20,330 8 Datu Unsay 2nd 12,490 8 General Salipada K. Pendatun 2nd 24,004 19 Guindulungan 2nd 16,071 11 Kabuntalan 1st 16,794 17 Mamasapano 2nd 22,354 14 Mangudadatu 2nd 14,864 8 Matanog 1st 23,269 8 Northern Kabuntalan 1st 14,251 11 Pagalungan 2nd 31,891 12 Paglat 2nd 11,207 8 Pandag 2nd 13,795 8 Parang 1st 73,328 25 Rajah Buayan 2nd 17,423 11 Shariff Aguak 2nd 34,376 13 Shariff Saydona Mustapha 2nd 16,442 – – – – 16 South Upi 2nd 35,990 11 Sultan Kudarat 1st 82,758 39 Sultan Mastura 1st 21,712 13 Sultan sa Barongis 2nd 22,547 12 Talayan 2nd 16,042 15 Talitay 2nd 13,328 9 Upi 1st 45,444 23 Total 1,173,933 944,718 — — — — 508
The province saw establishments of new municipalities, especially during the 2000s. Then ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly (RLA) secretary Dick Mali said such establishments would help in "decentralizing functions and resources" and provide the people "more efficient public service and governance from their public officials." However, Benedicto Bacani of the Institute of Autonomy and Governance in the Notre Dame University said such acts are methods to prevent potential conflicts between political families by having their own local government units where they can have governmental positions.
Demographics
The population of Maguindanao in the 2020 census was 1,667,258 people. When Cotabato City was included for geographical purposes, the province's population is 1,667,258 people.
The majority (64.5 percent) of the people in Maguindanao were Maguindanaoans. The Iranuns which dominate the northern towns of Parang, Barira, Buldon and Matanog made up the second largest group with 18.4 percent. The Tedurays, which are the Lumads of the southwestern highlands of the province, made up 8.4 percent of the entire population, while Hiligaynons and Cebuanos constituted the remaining significant groups in the province with each making up 3.2 percent of the population.