Bayugan

Bayugan, officially the City of Bayugan (Dakbayan sa Bayugan; Lungsod ng Bayugan), is a 5th class component city in the province of Agusan del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 109,499 people.. Gained cityhood through Republic Act No. 9405, it is the only city in the province of Agusan del Sur. Located at the northern part of Agusan del Sur, Bayugan is the "cut-flower capital" of the province owing to its lucrative cut flower industry. The city's climate, especially in the highland barangays, is conducive to high yield cut-flower production. The city is also one of the major producers of rice and vegetables in the province, even providing for neighboring municipalities and provinces. The natives called the area Bayugan since the word bayugan is a Manobo term for pathway. Another version states that bayug trees used to grow abundantly in the area. It was also believed that the natives used to make this place their meeting spot and that the means of gathering the inhabitants was by knocking on a hollow piece of wood which they termed as the bayug. Bayugan was formerly a sitio of Barangay Maygatasan, Esperanza. Several versions abound on how the sitio got its name. First, the place was located along the river which served as the pathway of the natives in going to Esperanza. In 1942, Japanese troops entered Bayugan during the second World War. In 1945, the town of Bayugan in Southern Agusan was liberated by Filipino soldiers and guerrillas from the Japanese forces occupying the town. In 1948, the Department of Public Works and Highways conducted a survey for a National Highway that would connect Butuan with Davao City. Simultaneously, the Bureau of Lands surveyed the places that would be traversed by the proposed road. Possible town sites were identified and among them was Barangay Maygatasan. However, part of the National Highway (now the Narra Avenue) passed through the sitio of Bayugan instead of Barangay Maygatasan. Migrants started settling in the sitio of Bayugan, thus, prompting the transfer of the proposed town site.