statue (900–950 CE) discovered in 1917 on the banks of the Wawa River near
Esperanza, Agusan del Sur,
Mindanao in the
Philippines.
Early history The history of Agusan del Sur is essentially linked with that of its sister province, Agusan del Norte. Agusans pre-Hispanic cultural history is traced back to the great influence of the
Majapahit Empire through the discovery of an tall image of a woman in pure gold at Maasam, Esperanza in 1917 and molten jars unearthed at Bah-bah, Prosperidad. The aborigines of Agusan del Sur are the ancestors of the present day Mamanwas, who were driven to the hinterlands by waves of
Malay immigrants. These immigrants, in turn, sought the protection of the interior jungles because of the forays and the constant raids of the
Moros, who were seafaring people confined to coastal areas where they started their settlements.
Spanish colonial era The
Augustinian Recollects established a mission in Linao, in the vicinity of present-day
Bunawan, in 1614. However, mission work was hampered by the hostility of the surrounding Manobo tribes. At the height of the power of the
Sultanate of Maguindanao in the mid-17th century, the Manobos of the Agusan Valley were in alliance with
Sultan Kudarat. Linao was attacked several times during the
1629 Caraga Revolt and the 1649
Sumuroy Revolt. Nevertheless, the Recollects were able to establish themselves in their mission work, and remained there until the middle of the 19th century. In the late 19th century, the Recollects (under protest) turned over many of their mission territories, including those in the upper Agusan region, to the reconstituted
Jesuit order (the Jesuits had been banned by Papal edict in the 1760s, and ejected from the Philippines in 1768). Missionary work was interrupted by the
Philippine Revolution when the Jesuits either fled or were arrested by revolutionaries. The territory of Agusan del Sur was governed as part of the province of Caraga during most of the Spanish period. In 1860, it was placed under the
comandancia of Butuan, a district of the
province of Surigao.
American colonial era During the
American occupation,
lumbering became an important activity in Agusan del Sur.
Visayan migrants settled in the cleared plains, pushing Indigenous communities farther into the mountainous slopes. In 1914, the
province of Agusan was created by the American government. The Agusan Valley was settled by a variety of cultural communities like the
Manobos, Mamanwas and Higaonons. Archeological excavations in the lower Agusan valley plains have uncovered evidence of strong relationships between the region and the Southeast Asian states. A golden image of Javan-Indian design unearthed in the 1920s and molten jars uncovered in Prosperidad are indications that the region had commercial and cultural ties with the coast.
Japanese occupation In the
Second World War,
Japanese troops landed in the province of Agusan in 1942 and occupied the province until their defeat by combined U.S. and Philippine Commonwealth troops as well as recognized guerrilla units in 1945 at the
Battle of Agusan. The general headquarters and military camp and base of the
Philippine Commonwealth Army was active from January 3, 1942, to June 30, 1946, and the 10th Infantry Regiment of the
Philippine Constabulary was active again from October 28, 1944, to June 30, 1946, are military stationed in the province of Surigao was composed to engaging operations against the Japanese Occupation. During World War II, a unit of the joint Philippine-American defense force was located at Manot, Talacogon, in the interior of the Agusan Valley.
Postwar era The province of Agusan del Sur was established on June 17, 1967, under
Republic Act No. 4969 providing for the division of the province of Agusan into
Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur. In January 1970, the first set of provincial officials assumed office after the provincial election of November, 1969. The same law provided that the capital of Agusan del Sur be the municipality of Prosperidad. The Government Center has been set up in Barangay Patin-ay.
During the Marcos dictatorship The 21-year administration of
Ferdinand Marcos, which included 14 years of one-man rule under Marcos, saw the rise of ethnic conflicts and the overall degradation of peace and order in Agusan del Sur and throughout Mindanao - first in the form of conflicts between local Mindanaoan Muslims and Christian settlers which the Marcos administration had encouraged first to migrate and then to form militias, and later in the form of Muslim secessionist movements arising from outrage after the 1986
Jabidah massacre. Additionally, an economic crisis in late 1969 led to social unrest throughout the country, and violent crackdowns on protests led to the radicalization of many students, with some joining the
New People's Army, bringing the
Communist rebellion to Mindanao. In September 1972, Marcos was nearing the end of this last term allowed under the Philippines 1935 constitution when he placed the entirety of the Philippines under Martial Law, a period historically remembered for
its human rights abuses, particularly targeting political opponents, student activists, journalists, religious workers, farmers, and others who fought against the Marcos dictatorship. Numerous cults tapped by Marcos' military as force multipliers in their efforts against the Muslim secessionists and the communists. In Agusan del Sur, 1975 saw the formation of the "Lost Command" group by Philippine Army Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Lademora, which was described by
Newsweek as "
a clandestine army of 275 to 400 irregulars whose ostensible mission is to search out and destroy the enemies of President Ferdinand Marcos on the Philippine island of Mindanao." Named after a 1966 action movie, the group soon became known for its brutal tactics, and was specifically called out for such by
Amnesty International in the report for its November 1981 Factfinding Mission to the Philippines.
Contemporary The municipality of
Bayugan became a component city by virtue of
Republic Act No. 9405 which sought to convert the municipality into a city. The law was ratified on June 21, 2007. However, the cityhood status was lost twice in the years 2008 and 2010 after the
LCP questioned the validity of the cityhood law. The cityhood status was reaffirmed after the
court finalized its ruling on February 15, 2011 which declared the cityhood law constitutional. ==Geography==