HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF CARAGA
Region XIII, the Caraga Administrative Region, is the newest among the country’s politico-administrative aggrupation. It is composed of four provinces and three cities, which were once part of Region X, Northern Mindanao, and Region XI, Southern Mindanao. These are Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte and the cities of Butuan and Surigao del Sur from Region XI. The region is located in the eastern part of Mindanao. It is bounded in the North by the Surigao Stair; on the west by the provinces of Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental; on the South by the Province of Davao del Norte ; and on the East by the Pacific Ocean. It is situated within the Grid Square of 7 degrees and 25 minutes to 10mdegrees and 30 minutes North latitude; 124 degrees and 15 minutes to 126 degrees and 15 minutes East longitude.
The creation of the region brings together the “Provincia de Caraga” of 1609, an area that was divided into five provinces in the 1960’s. Caraga comes from the word “Calagan” which is derived from Visayan word “Calag” meaning “soul” or “spirit”. Thus, “Calagan” would mean “land of spirited or courageous people”. The early inhabitants of Caraga were ethnic tribes belonging to the Manobo, Mamanua, Mandaya, Lapaknon and some migrates from the Visayan provinces.
The consolidation of the provinces and cities of the Caraga Region stems from the need to create an economic aggrupation based on economic interaction, geographic proximity, and commonality of its rich resources endowments and socio-cultural affinity.
A general feeling of discontent among the affected provinces triggered the move, and then being underdeveloped compared with the other provinces, particularly those nearer the regional centers. With an economy that was so dependent on logging and mining, underdevelopment in these provinces and cities became more apparent with the closure of major mining and logging firms. The sentiments persisted until the initiatives for the creation of Agusan – Surigao Zone gained support from various sectors, Political leaders, government planners, businessmen, and non-government organizations saw the need to create a development zone and business center outside of the regions X and XI.
The creation of Caraga augurs well with the current and subsequent major interventions. Under the Mindanao 2000 Development Framework Plan, the Caraga Area Development Zone (Caraga ADZ), which is the gateway to Luzon and Visayas is identified as one of the seven ADZs of Mindanao along with the South Cotabato - Sarangani – General Santos City (SOCSARGEN), Davao Gulf (Davao City and the Provinces of Davao, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental), Cagayan – Iligan Corridor (CIC), Central Mindanao – Cotabato (Cotabato City, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Sur and North Cotabato), Panguil Bay Mt. Malindang in Misamis Oriental and Zamboanga – Sulu Zones.
Caraga aims to be a timber corridor of the country with all its four provinces producing plantation trees to support the country’s wood-based industry. With its natural resources endowments for tourism – related activities, it also aims to become the eco-tourism center of the country. The Region also aims to link the coastal economy of the provinces through the Surigao Davao Pacific Rim (SUDOPARIM) Project, an inter-regional initiative with region XI that seeks to facilitate the development of the coastal towns of Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, and Davao Oriental.
