History of Zamboanga Sibugay

           Zamboanga Sibugay was created on February 24, 2001 during the term of Congressman George T. Hofer by Republic Act 8973. The creation of Zambonaga Sibugay as a province had a long history. It started in the 1960s when several bills were filed in the congress such as House Bill No.17574 by the late Rep Vincenzo Sagun, HB No. 8546 of Congresswoman Belma Cabilao, HB No. 341 thru Congressman Vicente M. Cerilles and the Batasan Parliamentary Bill No.ponsored by parliament members (Antonio Ceniza, Manuel M. Espaldon, Hussien Loong, Kalbi Tupay, and Minister Romulo Espaldon). All of these bills were relegated to the recesses of the archives.

        In 1993, an initiative called the Zamboanga Occidental Movement ushered in a renewed political consciousness among the people of the 3rd district of Zamboanga del Sur. The movement was so intense that a People’s Initiative was conducted simultaneously with the May 1997 Barangay Elections. In this exercise, majority of the voters signed in favor of forming a new province. It was then that Congressman George T. Hofer sponsored HB No. 1311. He managed to push the bill in congress and gave it a new identity by naming the proposed province as Zamboanga Sibugay. He lobbied for its approval in the senate and had former President Joseph E. Estrada finally approve the creation of the new province.

           The Zamboanga Sibugay Provincial Police office was activated as a type “C” Police Provincial Office effective September 17, 2001 pursuant to General Orders Nr. DPL 01-04 dated September 17, 2001. It was formally organized on October 16, 2001 with PSUPT ARNULFO DEL ROSARIO PEREZ as its first Police Provincial Director.

            The province of Zamboanga Sibugay was created on November 17, 2000 pursuant to RA 8973 comprising of sixteen (16) municipalities with 389 Barangays. It has a total land area of 3,363.22 square kilometer or 336,332 hectares. The province is divided into 2 provincial districts. Based on the 2006 Census, the total population of the province is 572, 343 inhabitants.

Among the municipalities, Tungawan is the largest in terms of land area followed by Siay and Titay while the smallest is Talusan. Out of the sixteen (16) municipalities, Ipil is the only municipality classified as 3rd class and more than half of the municipalities are considered under the 5th class category while the rest are either 4th or 6th class.

Zamboanga Sibugay PPO has sixteen Police Stations with two Mobile Groups that serves as the maneuvering force of the Provincial Police Office.

(http://www.zamboanga.com/z/index.php?title=Zamboanga_Sibugay_Province,_Philippines)