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Misamis
Occidental is located near the narrow strip of land linking
Northwestern Mindanao, to the northern part of the island. Shaped
like a collapsible fan or a loaf of bread or the fourth letter in
the English alphabet. It is bounded on the northeast by Mindanao
Sea, east by Iligan Bay, southeast by Panguil Bay and west by
Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur. The fact that the three
of its boundaries are bodies of water gives away water life as one
of its natural resources and fishing as one of its main industries
except along the coastal area, hilly and rolling land
characterized the provincial terrain. Toward the western border,
the terrain is particularly rugged. The province falls between 123º33’00”
to 123º1’50” east longitude and 8º01’00” and 8º40’15”
north latitude.
The
province consists of fourteen municipalities, including the most
newly created municipality, the municipality of Don Victoriano
Chiongbian and three cities namely: Ozamiz, Oroquieta and Tangub.
The provincial capital is Oroquieta City.
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| PROVINCE OF MISAMIS OCCIDENTAL |
Legislative
Act No. 3537 passed on
November 2, 1929 divided the old provinces of Misamis into Misamis
Occidental. The Occidental comprises the towns of Baliangao, Lopez
Jaena, Tudela, Clarin, Plaridel, Oroquieta, Moran and Jimenez. The
original nine municipalities of the province grew into the present
three cities of Ozamiz, Oroquieta and Tangub and fourteen
municipalities - Aloran, Baliangao, Bonifacio, Calamba,
Clarin, Concepcion, Don Victoriano, Jirnenez, Lopez Jaena, Panaon,
Plaridel, Sapang Dalaga, Sinacaban and Tudela with a total number
of 492 barangays.
The
province has a total land area of 1,919.3 square kilometers
representing .65 percent of the total land area in the
Philippines. The municipality of Don Victoriano has the biggest
land area equivalent to 16.22 percent of the total. The
municipality of Panaon shares the smallest area of only 40.28
square kilometers.
Topography and Land Use
From
the vast tracks of rice land along the coastal areas, twelve
municipalities and three cities are located The terrain is rising
towards the hilly and rolling land westward to Mount Malindang and
Mount Ampiro where two manipulates are situated. The soil in the
rugged areas is situated to coconuts trees, which is the chief
crop of the province. The second major crop is rice. Other crops
like corn, abacca, and cacao also thrive in the flat and rolling
lands.
Under
the present land classification system, lands of public domain
with slopes of more than 18 percent (approximately 10 degrees) are
retained for forest purposes.
Those
with 18 percent slope and below classified as alienable and
disposable (A and D) lands. Those lands may be released for
non-forest purposes (Agriculture, industrial and residential
subject to additional conditions such as contiguity of area and
environmental considerations.
Lands
feasible for forest are preserved otherwise; these lands are
turned over to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources for
Fishery development or to the Bureau of Lands for disposition as A
and D lands.
As
of 1992 about 127,929.54 hectares or 65.97% of the total land area
of the province has been classified as A and D land while the
remaining percentage of 14.03 percent accounts for forest lands.
Parks and wildlife reserves amount to 53,262 hectares or 80.70% of
the total classified forest lands. The area for fishponds, Civil
Reservation established Timberlands constituted 12,740.46 or
19.30% of the total classified forestall lands.
Soil
of the uplands consisting of 64.73% of the total land area is
composed mostly of Ad Adtuyon Clay Loam and Guimbaloan loam. Other
types are Adtuyon Loam, Castella Clay Loam, and Jasaan Clay Loam.
The
6.36% of the total area were soil of lowlands which type belongs
to Bantog clay, Kabacan Clay, Mabini Sandy loam, Pulopandan Sandy
loam and Quingua Silt loam. The miscellaneous types, which consist
of 28.31%, were of beach Sand, Hydrosol mountain soil and a 0.21%
are un-surveyed.
Climate and Rainfall
The
climate of this province belongs to the fourth type where rainfall
is more or less fairly distributed throughout the year. In 1991,
rainiest month is November and the driest month is February. The
entire province is outside the typhoon belt, but it is sometimes
affected by storm.
General Land Uses
The
land uses in the province are classified into agricultural area,
grassland/ shrub land areas, wetland areas and extends to 16.64%
and 17.85% respectively.
Agricultural Areas
The
province has an aggregate agricultural area of 118.933 hectares
which has been the object of development for two most important
farming systems - the rice based at the flat-land coastal areas
and the coco-based farming system at the upland areas.
Among
the agricultural crops, coconut is the most dominant covering
about 101,787 hectares or 8558 percent of the total agricultural
areas. Coconut groves are sparsely intercropped with fruit trees,
bananas and root crops. Paddy rice irrigated rank second among the
crops. It has an estimated area of 6,209 hectares or 5.22% of
total area devoted to agricultural production, distributed among
the cities and municipalities except Concepcion, Don Victoriano,
Calamba and Sapang Dalaga. Plaridel has the largest number of
hectares, closely followed by Bonifacio and Ozamiz City.
Corn
is the third important crop, accounting for 7,030 hectares. Corn
is grown on well-drained areas along river terraces. Extensive
corn areas are found in the cities of Ozamiz and Tangub. Corn
areas are commonly associated with grassland and shrub land areas
as well as in the coconut dominated areas.
Bananas
accounted for 1,263 hectares or 1.00 percent of agricultural
banana are planted on we1l-drained areas and usually under coconut
trees. Although most of the bananas in the province are grown in
the backyard and in small scale with little or no care at all,
they have contributed as raw material in industries, which
manufacture banana crackers and banana chips.
Root
crops like bananas are alternate staple food for rural households
and are planted in 688 hectares. Fruit trees abound but are
scattered in 343 hectares in the province.
Grassland Shrub land
Grassland
area cover about 17,534 hectares or 9.04% of the total area of the
province, Talahib (Sacchrum spontaneum and cogon [imperata])
cylindrical are dominant grasses, which grow on log over areas
over kaingin burnt sites.
Wetland Areas
The
total area of the wetland in the province is estimated to be 4,579
hectares or 2.36% of the province that include mangrove swamp
forest, fishpond and lake.
Mangrove
swamp forest areas are usually made up of thick stands of medium
sized and avenged trees. Normally they are free from undergrowth
other than seedlings and are characterized by the presence of
roots above the surface of the ground. Depending upon the species,
these may take the form of erect roots, high crop roots or mere
swollen roots with side branches extending along the surface of
the ground. These peculiar roots are one of the distinguishing
characteristics of the mangrove swamp forest trees.
Mangrove
swamp forest accounts for 3,287 hectares where 2,557 are tree type
mangroves and 730 hectares are palm type mangrove (nipa).
Some
1,276 hectares of mangroves/swamp are being developed for
fishponds especially for bangus and prawn production. The province
has one lake, Lake Duminagat, on top of the mountain with a clear
15 hectares of mountainous plains. The lake is subject for
development for eco-tourism for the domestic and foreign tourist
alike.
Forestland and Woodlands
Forestland
area is about 32,277 hectares or 16.44 of the total land area of
the province. It is located at the northeastern portion of the
province, particularly at Mount Malindang, Mt. Ampiro and other
mountain ranges of the province.
Some
of the diptocarp species that are found in the area are Almon,
Apitong, Bagtikan, Red Lawa-an, White Lawa-an, Mangainoro, Mayapis,
and Tanguile. Some of the non-diptocarp species are Almasiga,
Bakan, Dongon, Lati, Igem, Gubas, Ilang-ilang, Katmon,
Lumbayao, Lokinai, Maka-asim, Malakawayan, Nito, Taluto, and White
Nito. Among the molave species are Antipolo and Narra.
The Mt. Malindang, which
covers 53,262 hectares when proclaimed as Forest Reserves for
Wildlife Sanctuary by virtue of R.A. 6266 on June 19,1971. The
area, which is reduced to 31,896 hectares, has several river
tributaries and a watershed. Several endangered wildlife species
can also be found in the forest area of the province such as the
Philippine Deer, Rafona Horn Bill, Giant Scope Owl, Philippine
Eagle and several rare species of flora and fauna.
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