History of Malita, Davao Occidental

  History of Malita,Davao Occidental December 08,2022 What is now Davao Occidental was once a part of the now-defunct Davao Province which encompasses the entirety of present-day Davao Region. Section 1 of Philippine Commission Act No. 164 dated December 10, 1904 indicated that much of its area as far as what is now Malita once belonged to the municipal unity of Santa Cruz. The original chief inhabitants of the area were the indigenous Lumad tribes including the Matigsalugs and Tagakaulos. Around the early 1900s onward, migrants from Luzon and the Visayas settled in the area, many of whom intermarried with the indigenous people; as decades progressed the descendants of the migrants became the majority of the population. Origin of the Municipality’s Name According to stories by folks in this place, the name “Malita” was taken from the Spanish word “maleta”, which means suitcase. Purportedly, Don Mariano Peralta, a veteran of the Spanish-American War who ventured to the place, decide...