History
Once a swampy area surrounded by the second-growth forest, Sulop was inhabited by the natives of the Tagacaolo, B’laan, and Bagobo tribes. The B’laans were headed by their tribal chieftain DATU SULO while the Tagacaulos were headed by TIO BUNDAY. The means of survival of these indigenous people were hunting wild boars and agriculture, the main product of which was corn. Flooding was (and still is) a common occurrence and the people called the rushing waters “surop”.
In the early part of the 19th century, particularly in the 1930s, the first migrants came to settle down, mostly Sugbuanons from Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte. From then on, waves of immigrants from the Visayas Region, mostly from Cebu, came to Sulop which was still a barangay under the Municipality of Limonso (now Padada). Settlers from Leyte, Iloilo, and Bohol
also arrived within the century. They acquired lands from the natives who retreated to the hinterlands when they came. The settlers then converted the place into settlement sites and agricultural production areas.
After the war, Barrio Sulop was still part of the Municipality of Limonso. But the people have multiplied, and the community has grown. Several persons, particularly Eulalio Masocol, Zoilo Comabig, and Antonio Go Pace emerged as respected figures of the community. They espoused the idea of creating a new town separate from Limonso. It was decided to call the town SULOP, a word reconciled from the term “surop” meaning rushing waters, “sul-op” from the Tagacaulo dialect meaning wild (ihalas in Cebuano), and the name of the B’laan tribalchieftain Datu Sulo. From then on, the place came to be known as SULOP.
Antonio Go Pace lobbied for the creation of Sulop as a town. He went to Manila in January 1958 and came back four months after with EXECUTIVE ORDER 259 issued by then-President Carlos P. Garcia on April 24, 1958, officially separating the Barrio of Sulop and its adjacent barrios and sitios from Limonso and creating an independent town…. the MUNICIPALITY OF SULOP.
During those days, the people would converge every Tuesday to a place they fondly called LOTE for their marketing, the common marketplace located near the residence of spouses Agripina and Segundo Lumbab beside the Sulop Elementary School. The mode of transportation then was the horse-drawn “tartanilya” or “calesa” and the carabao and cow drawn “caromata” or “cariton”. But most people would opt to walk their way to and from the marketplace. It was only in 1964 when buses, jeepneys, and pedicabs started plying the route to and from Sulop.
The first seat of government after the creation of Sulop was the residence of Enrique Pacatan. The policemen in those days were appointed by the mayor and the first to assume as Chief of Police was Felix Dollen, Sr. There was only one (1) secondary school then, the Sulop Community High School located in the area where the municipal health center now stands. The school children go to the Sulop Elementary School (now Sulop Central Elementary School).
The first place of worship erected in the locality was the Aglipayan Church (FILIPINISTAS) which is still in existence. Then the ADVENTISTS erected their edifice after which the IGLESIA NI CRISTO (INC) and the JEHOVAS WITNESSES followed suit. Meanwhile, the ROMAN CATHOLICS used to go to Padada to worship while others worship in a small chapel (located in
the area of what is now the Sulop Medical Clinic) donated by spouses Agripina and Segundino Lumbab. When the chapel was burned down, Fr. Gravel, then parish priest of Padada, requested a group of devout catholic women who were responsible for the establishment of the chapel, to look for an area where to erect a permanent church for the Roman Catholics. With
funds provided by then-Governor Alejandro Almendras, a lot was purchased where the first catholic church was built. Fr. Bouchard was installed as the first parish priest.
After its creation, the first set of municipal officials were appointed by President Garcia with Nestorio Comabig as mayor.
Its development underwent several changes of political leadership, viz:
President Carlos P. Garcia appointed Nestorio Comabig as the first mayor of the Municipality of Sulop whose achievement was the assignment of residential lots to interested parties consistent with the townsite development plan. However, Mayor Nestorio Comabig resigned from office six (6) months after he assumed office;
The then Vice Mayor Antonio Go Pace assumed the vacated mayorship position and facilitated the construction of the first Town Hall of the municipality;
Vice-mayor Sebastian Mondejar, Sr. succeeded the mayorship of Antonio Go Pace when the latter died and then facilitated the establishment of the Cacao Investors Incorporated (CII), a multi-million-peso corporation engaged in cacao beans production;
Vice-mayor Perfecto O. Sagarino, Sr. succeeded as mayor when Mayor Sebastian Mondejar, Sr. was killed in an ambush on December 3, 1982 during the height of the insurgency. His greatest achievement was the construction of the Sulop Public Market building. Unfortunately, he was forced to relinquish his position after the EDSA REVOLUTION in 1986; Atty. Leopoldo C. Diones was then installed as OIC-Mayor who retained his position by winning the 1987 and 1992 elections. Mayor Leopoldo C. Diones’ achievement was the restoration of peace and order of the municipality and the construction of the municipal gymnasium, municipal nursery, animal breeding center, municipal cemetery, and the waterworks system;
Atty. Jose Jimmy S. Sagarino, son of former mayor Perfecto O. Sagarino Sr., won the mayoralty race in 1995. Mayor Jose Jimmy S. Sagarino then initiated the formulation of the vision of Sulop and the 1995 – 2005 Comprehensive Development Plan of the municipality. The Construction of the new Municipal Government Center of Sulop was made during his incumbency. Notable transformation of the LGU-Sulop from a sleepy town to a vibrant and progressive political subdivision transpired during the administration of the energetic young mayor throughout his three (3) terms as mayor;
On June 30, 2004, the local leadership was then steered by Mayor Restituto C. Ornales. In his quest to sustain the obtaining momentum of development, he placed agricultural productivity as the centerpiece of his development thrusts and initiated the construction of Labon – Clib Steel Bridge;
Another change in leadership took place on June 30, 2007, when the newly elected mayor assumed the post at noon marking the return of Mayor Jose Jimmy S. Sagarino who, in his new term as local chief executive, celebrated the Golden Founding Anniversary of the Municipality of Sulop. He then commenced the continuity of what he started during his first 3 terms as mayor, laying down the foundation of the sustainable growth of the locality.
A new era in the local political leadership transpired when the first lady Chief Executive assumed the highest position of the municipality with the assumption of Honorable Maria S. Sagarino as the new mayor on June 30, 2016. For the first time in the history of Sulop, a woman handled the reins of governance of the municipality. She pursued the development efforts laid down by her predecessor, her son and former mayor Atty. Jose Jimmy Sagarino.
Then eventually on June 30, 2019, Atty. Jose Jimmy S. Sagarino again assumed the local leadership after winning the local election unopposed. It is the third time he became Municipal Mayor of Sulop, a feat never before achieved by any politician in the history of Sulop. Right at the commencement of his new mandate as a steward, he initiated the formulation of the new direction of the municipality, envisioning it to become a premier agri-industrial municipality with a diversified economy.
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