Mindanao

Mindanao (/mɪndəˈnaʊ/ (About this soundlisten)) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of the same name that also includes its adjacent islands, notably the Sulu Archipelago. As of the 2010 census, Mindanao has 20,281,545 inhabitants, while the entire island group has an estimated population of 25,537,691 as of 2018.

Mindanao is divided into six administrative regions: the Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, the Caraga region, the Davao region, Soccsksargen, and the autonomous region of Bangsamoro. According to the 2015 census, Davao City is the most populous city on the island, with 1,632,991 residents, followed by Zamboanga City (pop. 861,799), Cagayan de Oro (pop. 675,950), General Santos (pop. 594,446), Iligan (pop. 342,618), Butuan (pop. 337,063) and Cotabato City (pop. 299,438).[3] About 70% of residents identify as Christian and 24% as Muslim.

Mindanao is considered the major breadbasket of the Philippines, with eight of the top 10 agri-commodities exported from the Philippines coming from the island itself.

Mindanao is known as the Philippines’ “Land of Promise.”

Archaeological findings on the island point to evidence of human activity dating back about ten thousand years. Around 1500 BC Austronesian people spread throughout the Philippines.

The Subanon are believed to have established themselves on Mindanao Island during the Neolithic Era, or New Stone Age, the period in the development of human technology beginning around 10,000 BC according to the ASPRO chronology (between 4,500 and 2,000 BC). The evidence of old stone tools in Zamboanga del Norte may indicate a late Neolithic presence. Ceramic burial jars, both unglazed and glazed, as well as Chinese celadons, have been found in caves, together with shell bracelets, beads, and gold ornaments.

Many of the ceramic objects are from the Yuan and Ming periods. Evidently, there was a long history of trade between the Subanon and the Chinese long before the latter’s contact with Islam.

Some 2,130 government-led infrastructure projects worth P547.9 billion have also been lined up for Mindanao until 2022.

NEDA official said that 68% of that budget will be allotted for the transportation sector, while 16% will go to water resources, and 6% to social infrastructure.

Of this amount, 18 infrastructure projects have been identified as “flagship projects,” five of them have already been approved by President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

The projects include the ₱35.26 billion Tagum-Davao-Digos Segment of the Mindanao Railway, the ₱40.57 billion Davao airport, the ₱14.62 billion Laguindingan airport, the ₱4.86 billion Panguil Bay Bridge Project, and the ₱5.44 billion Malitubog-Maridagao Irrigation Project, Phase II.

Projects in the pipeline are the second and third phases of the Mindanao Railway; the Agus-Pulangi plant rehabilitation; the Davao expressway; the Zamboanga Fish Port Complex rehabilitation; the Balo-i Plains Flood Control Project; Asbang Small Reservoir Irrigation Project; the Ambal Simuay Sub-Basin of the Mindanao River Basin Flood Control and River Protection Project; as well as the Road Network Development Project in Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao project.