Community Profile

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

         Malita’s existence dates back scores of years on November 17, 1936. Records show that Malita must have been existing long before the passage of the Act-Laws of the More Province which mentioned Malita in Section 1 of Act No. 164 dated December 10, 1904. Through the said Act it is presumed that it existed as a barrio only before the coming of the Americans to Davao. Executive Order No. 64 issued by President Manuel L. Quezon officially created Malita into a municipality. The name “Malita” is a derivation from the Spanish word “maleta” which means suitcase. It is said that Don Mariano Peralta, a retired veteran of the Spanish-American War and who ventured in the place, decided to live on the vast, fertile plain across the river. One day while fording the deep and swift river with his suitcase and other belongings in hand, the force of the current overwhelmed his perilous balance and got swept by the water consequently losing his grip on the suitcase. His frantic shouts of “maleta, maleta” attracted the attention of the bathing natives who after realizing the situation promptly responded and retrieved the vanishing suitcase. Hardly forgetting the shouts of Peralta, the natives later thought the word referred to the land he intended to settle as Malita. How it came to its present spelling and usage maybe attributed to the natives’ prevalent use of the long ‘e’ sound for the vowels ‘I’ and ‘e’.

         Malita’s early inhabitants are mostly of the Tagacaolo, B’laan, Manobo, Maguindanao, Sangil and Bagobo tribes believed to be descendants of the second wave of Malays who migrated to Mindanao from Southeast Asia years before the birth of Christ.

         In 1909 Governor Leonard Wood sent U.S. Marine Officer Orvil Wood to enforce the Liquor Law in the place. Officer Wood and his troops seated on the south bank of the river dividing the present Poblacion and Barangay Culaman, to establish the first recorded settlement and system of government, In 1912, Mariano Peralta came and worked briefly with Wood as Capataz. Shortly, a wave of immigrants from the Visayas, mostly from Cebu, came. Settlers from Luzon Island also came so with a number from the neighboring provinces in Mindanao.

         Malita’s development as a municipality underwent 22 leadership changes under various political situations and official assumptions and titles. The period 1906 to 1937 saw the local chief executive in the title of President whose assumptions to office were made through appointment. From 1937 to the present the official designation of the local chief executive was changed to Mayor and those who assumed the office were installed either by popular election or appointment.

POPULATION

            Malita is a 1st class municipality in the province of Davao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2009 LGPMS census, it has a population of 133,020 people in 20,526 households. Malita was known for various arts of its cultural heritage and vast cultural and multi-talented tribes.

LOCATION AND LAND AREA

             Malita is one of the 15 municipalities of the province of Davao del Sur. It lies on the southwestern portion of Region XI, approximately between 6°06’ to 6°32’ East latitude and 125°20’ North longitude.

            It is bounded on the north by the Municipality of Sta. Maria, on the south by Municipality of Don Marcelino , on the east by Davao Gulf , and on the west by the Municipality of Malungon, South Cotabato Province.

             While the municipality officials and the planners consistently claim the total land area of Malita to be 120,115 hectares, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has on its official record 56,402 hectares to be Malita’s total land area.

TOPOGRAPHY

           Malita could be characterized as a generally rugged territory. A large portion of its land which qualifies within the 30% - 50% slope range has an area of 91,407.51 hectares (76.10%), and is best for forest development. More than fifteen thousand hectares (15,434.78) is made up of the 0%-8% slope range constituting 12.85% of the entire land area. A little over ten percent (10.25% r 12,311.79 hectares) are with in the 8%-18% slope range. The 18%- 30% slope range occupies only about eight-tenths (0.8%  or 960 hectares) of the whole municipality. Approximately about 19.34% of the municipality’s land area is occupied by rivers and creeks. Occupying the wider are is Malita river, which serves as the boundary between Barangay Culaman and the Poblacion.


    

  

  Fishing Village (Fisherman's Village)

Fishing Village (Fisherman's Village) is a barangay of the municipality Malita in the province of Davao Del Sur in Davao Region which is part of the Mindanao group of islands. Its total land area is 1, 051.5 hectares. The barangay is characterized by the flat terrains where mostly coconut and banana are planted. It faces the magnificent Davao Gulf on the east and is bounded on the north by Barangay Lacaron; on the south by Barangay Poblacion and on the west by Barangay Kidalapong. It is just 5 kilometers away from the Poblacion and is appropriately connected with a well maintained coastal road. It carries popularity and distinction for being the home barangay of Assemblyman Benjamin V. Bautista.