Mapun, officially the Municipality of Mapun (), is a municipality in the province of Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. According to the , it has a population of people.

It was formerly known as Cagayan de Sulu until 1984, then as Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi until 1988.

Mapun is an island municipality in the Sulu Sea on the south-western extreme of the Philippines, located very close to Sabah, Malaysia as well as to Palawan. The people inhabiting the island are known as Jama Mapun or "people of Mapun". Their local language is Pullun Mapun, which means "Mapun language".

Due to an administrative error in the Treaty of Paris, while the remainder of the Philippines was ceded to the United States, Sibutu and Cagayan de Sulu were retained under Spanish Sovereignty until they were formally ceded to the United States upon the ratification of the Treaty of Washington on March 23, 1901. In 1946, the Philippines became an independent country, including Mapun island as part of it.

History

Colonial period

Cagayan de Sulu was among the islands in the Sulu Archipelago being occupied by the Samal people (Sama-Bajau) in the late 18th and early 19th century. The island likewise had a smaller Tausug population than Palawan.

Sulu Sultanate at the growing external trade (Late 1700s–early 1800s)

In 1783, an East India Company ship, the Antelope, spent a month trading among Cagayan de Sulu and the Tapian Tana islands. situated in the southwest, both of the archipelago and of the Sulu Sea.

Throughout American-rule in the Philippines, Cagayan de Sulu was never organized as a regular municipality of the Moro Province's Sulu District despite having authorization by the legislative council, thus it once had its own tribal ward government. At the time, it had the villages of Jurata and Imus.

The first American resident governor of Cagayan de Sulu was Guy Stratton, a former American army officer from Kansas. He lived on the island for nearly two decades, during which he brought the three districts and allied villages under a single municipal authority. He later established an administrative center at the present-day poblacion, Lupa Pula, at a new anchorage. With a new municipal administrative structure, Datu Amilhanja was appointed mayor (1911–1914), directly under a resident deputy governor. The first election was held in 1959 where Lim Eng, a part-Chinese commoner, won as mayor. First appointed in 1954, he served until 1967.

At that time, Cagayan de Sulu, being called Tana Mapun in the Pelun Mapun language, had been inhabited by Jama Mapun (literally, "People of Mapun") which are Muslim Filipinos like the Tausugs and Samals. It was in June 1963 when lunsay, their popular pre-Islamic traditional community dance, was documented following a performance in Barrio Duhul Batu.

As part of Tawi-Tawi and later developments

After the municipality became part of Tawi-Tawi, its name was further changed twice; from Cagayan de Sulu to Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi through Batas Pambansa Blg. 647 on March 7, 1984; and eventually to its present name, Mapun, through Republic Act No. 6672 on September 5, 1988.

Mapun Island, located near the Philippine–Malaysian border, is inside the Sandakan Basin which is said to be rich in oil and natural gas. On the Philippine side, there have been joint explorations since as early as 2004 off the island, resulting in the discovery of oil within a decade. The waters alone, reportedly, have an estimated reserve of about 500 billion barrels of oil.

Mapun, along with the Turtle Islands—both now among the three main island groups in the province—serve as places of interest for traders bound for northern Borneo, particularly Sabah, and Labuan.

Geography

Mapun Tawi-Tawi is surrounded by several islets such as:

  • Manda
  • Boan
  • Kinapusan
  • Pamilikan
  • Lapun-Lapun
  • Bintuut
  • Muligi

Most of these are located at Barangay Umus Mataha.

Barangays

Mapun is politically subdivided into 15 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.

  • Boki
  • Duhul Batu
  • Guppah
  • Iruk-Iruk
  • Kompang
  • Liyubud (Poblacion)
  • Lubbak Parang
  • Lupa Pula
  • Mahalu
  • Pawan
  • Sapah
  • Sikub
  • Tabulian
  • Tanduan
  • Umus Mataha

Climate

Demographics

Education

thumb|The Jama Mapun people's indigenous cosmology is extremely vast. Examples of figures in their cosmology are Niyu-niyu (coconut palm), Lumba-lumba (dolphin), and Anak Datu (two sons of a datu spearing another figure, Bunta - a blowfish).

;Elementary

;Secondary

  • Notre Dame of Cagayan (NDC) - a private school located in the border of Barangay Lupa Pula and Barangay Mahalu.
  • Mindanao State University (MSU) - a public school located in Mahalu
  • Tawi-Tawi Academy (TTA) - a private school located in Barangay Guppah
  • Mapun SHS

;Tertiary

Mindanao State University Extension - a public school and the only college institution in Mapun. MSU-Extension offers two-year courses.

Majority of those who graduate from high school pursue their studies in other places, most notably Zamboanga City, Palawan, and Bongao.

On the other hand, most of the graduates from elementary and high school are forced to stop their studies due to poverty lack of scholarships from the government.

Most of them have found a job in neighboring country like Malaysia. Tend to work as a construction workers and fisherman.

Culture

Mapun Day

Mapun Foundation Day is celebrated by the Jama Mapun every September 5. This week-long celebration starts on September 1, with a parade and then a short program held in Lupa Pula Central School.

Various competitions are held during Mapun Day, which includes singing competitions (in English, Tausug, and Pullun Mapun), dance showdowns (modern dance, folk dance, pangalay, which is a native dance, and lunsay, which is a dance performed during weddings), Azaan competition, Tarasul iban Daman (Mapun's version of declamation and oration), and Leleng, to name a few.

Each Barangay has their own representatives in the various events. However, the most popular is the "Budjang Mapun", which is a beauty contest. Each barangay has its own contestant in this event. The winner of the search for "Budjang Mapun" is usually sent to Bongao as Mapun's representative in Budjang Tawi-Tawi, a similar beauty search held in Bongao every Province Day. Every municipality in Tawi-Tawi has its own contestant.

Economy

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Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

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Main source of income from this province are farming and fishing.

In a bid to advance competitiveness of Tawi-Tawi in farming industry, this province supplies large companies when it comes on coconut plantation mainly "COPRA". 80% of the land consist of coconut trees, quarterly harvested and to be traded and refined in other places, like Palawan and Zamboanga City.

Rice fields are not known in this area due to lack of water irrigation projects, rice is imported locally from Palawan and Zamboanga City and mostly from Malaysia. Most of the locals use cassava as base on their daily meal.

See also

  • List of renamed cities and municipalities in the Philippines

References

  • [ Philippine Standard Geographic Code]
  • Philippine Census Information
  • Mapun Profile at the DTI Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index