Tago, Surigao del Sur

Tago is located in the central part of Surigao del Sur facing the Pacific Ocean. It lies between 126 degrees 12 minutes longitude and 9 degrees minutes north latitude. It is bounded on the north by the Capital Town of Tandag, on the north-west by Municipality of Lanuza, on the west by Municipality of San Miguel, on the southeast by the Municipality of Bayabas and on the south by the Municipalities of Cagwait and Marihatag.

Tago is politically subdivided into 24 barangays.

The Municipality of Tago was born thrice because of the precariousness of political times back then. It saw the light of day for the first time in 1865 under the Maura Law of the Spanish Regime that lasted for three years. Tago must have reverted to its barrio status because records had it that for the second time, it regained its municipal status on 23 August 1883, just after it transferred from the so-called Daan Lungsod (Old Town), which was perennially flooded, to the place called Laguna. When the Philippine Revolution broke out in 1896, Tago was again reverted to its barrio status.

About the middle of the First World War, the people of Tago grew politically minded and in the summer of 1916, important leaders of then Barrio of Tago like Catalino Pareja, Calixtro Espinoza, Simon Luna, Miguel Montero, Juan L. Garcia, Feleciano Arquiza, Juan Pimentel, Lorenzo Elizalde, Canuto Consuegra, Lino Montero, Isidro Garcia, Pastor Cabrera, Bernardo Falcon, Felipe Lozada and Felix Rodrigues were determined to wrestle Tago’s political independence away from the mother Municipality of Tandag.

This breed of local leaders then submitted a duly signed petition to the Municipal Council of Tandag. But wanting the petition to gain more support, Catalino Pareja, along with councilors Lino Montero, Isidro Garcia and Zacarias Espinoza, sent the resolution directly to the Provincial Board of Surigao which in turn endorsed it to the Governor General in Manila.

The crude transportation system during that time made the Provincial Governor Ricardo Gonzales incur delays in sending the petition to Governor General Francis Burton Harrison. But faced with numerous pressing matters to attend to, Harrison issued Executive Order No. 41 only on 6 November 1918, thus converting Tago, for the third time, from being a barrio to a newborn town.

Appointed Municipal President effective 1 January 1919 was then Councilor Catalino Pareja with Calixtro Espinoza as Vice Municipal President while Messrs. Feleciano Arquiza, Juan L. Garcia, Lorenzo Elizalde and Canuto Consuegra were appointed as Municipal Councilors. On the same year, the first election was conducted and Catalino Pareja and Lino Montero were elected as Municipal President and Vice Municipal President respectively.

Reverend Father Nose Croonin was Tago’s Parish Priest at that time.

During much of World War II Tago remained free from Japanese occupation. In late April 1944 the Japanese occupied Tago. The Japanese caused much damage there when their first patrol entered town. In early May guerrillas affiliated with the 10th Military District of the U.S. Army attacked the Japanese. Eight Japanese were killed, but the guerrillas were unable to dislodge them. The Japanese remained until 1945 and left many houses destroyed.[6][7]

The Luna's, Elizalde, Falcon, Montero and Pimentel are the prominent family in Tago.

Tago recorded an average growth rate of 2.3% from 1980 to 1990. But because of out-migration arising from lack of job opportunities, it had gone down to 1.86% between the periods 1995 and 2000. Among the barangays, Victoria registered the highest growth rate at 6.12% due to in-migration, the area being home to the Surigao del Sur Polytechnic State College while Barangay Mercedes posted a negative growth (-0.28%).

The Haguisan Kalipayan Hill, an eco-retreat where it offers dining, cottages and a function room for events/weddings. Within its vast area, fresh fish, crabs and prawns are available from its man-made ponds (seasonal). In the evenings, locals from Tago and nearby municipalities come to enjoy an ice cold beer and sing their hearts desire with KTV.

Fifty-seven per cent (57%) of Tagon-ons are elementary graduates, 25% are high school graduates. Eighty-five per cent (85%) of them obtain college education but barely half of them hold academic degrees.

• Tago Profile at PhilAtlas.com
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information
• Local Governance Performance Management System