Blue Flower

Historical Background


Before the coming of the Christian settlers from Cebu,

Glan was a vast virgin forest and wide cogonal terrain.  It

was inhabited by a few ethnic groups mostly B’laan and

Muslim natives, the first occupying the hinterlands and the

latter the coastal plains.

Glan started on October 8, 1914, as Agricultural Colony

No. 9 of the colonization project of the then Commonwealth

government. During its early stages, local affairs were solely

in the hands of the colony superintendent, but as the

colonists and their needs multiplied, the functions of

government passed into the hands of the deputy governor,

who, invariably, was the commanding officer of the local

force of the Philippine Constabulary.

     The town’s name is a corruption of the Moro word

Magalang meaning, “sharp”. Accounts have it that in the

olden days Glan was a favorite hunting grounds of Moro

royalty, datus, and other game-loving Muslim luminaries.


          There were more deer in the locality than in any

other place around the bay. Since anything can happen

when two or more groups meet, it was but prudential for the

men to have their bolos, arrows, and other bladed weapons

always sharp. In time, the place came to be called “galang”,

short for “Magalang” or a place of sharp weapons, and from

it was derived the present name “Glan”.

    The greatest name that could be linked with Glan is Don

Tranquilino Ruiz of Alegria, Cebu. He was the sole architect

that shaped the foundation of Glan’s destiny for being the

only colony superintendent to be appointed from the start of

the project in 1914 to its final abolition in 1928. He was

with the colonists through thick and thin in the trying years

of the colony and shared with them all the trials and

tribulation attendant to a pioneering life. Under his

guidance, the pioneers soon became exporters of corn.

     Finally, in 1938, the post of deputy governor passed

into civilian hands when Dr. Martin Ortuoste of Cotabato

succeeded Col. Julian Esquejo of Binalonan, Pangasinan. Mr.

Rafael Albano was the last civilian to be appointed deputy

governor and was succeeded by Ireneo Lopez of Kling

(Kiamba) who was named district Mayor of Glan in

1939. Lopez, a coconut and abaca planter, is best

remembered by the people of Glan for his nipping in the bud

a nascent Moro uprising against the Christians in the barrio

of Sapu in 1942

     Businessman Emilio Alegado, however, holds the

distinction of being the first local to be appointed Glan

district mayor in 1945, three weeks after the atomic bomb

was dropped on Hiroshima leading to the end of World War

II. He was succeeded by Mr. Clemente Lapaz in 1946.

   On August 1, 1947, Glan became a barrio of the newly

established Municipality of Buayan up to July 26, 1949. It

was quite a reversal of roles, for Buayan had been a barrio of

Glan for 22 years, from 1914 to 1936. On July 27, 1949,

however, President Quirino signed Executive Order No. 250

establishing Glan as a regular municipality. Its first

appointed officials were: Jose Hombrebueno, Mayor; Emilio

Alegado, Vice Mayor; and Clemente Lapaz, Joaquin Ruiz,

Filomino Lara, and Datu Alimudin Maguindanao, councilors.

     In 1952, the first election of municipal officials was held,

with Jose Hombrebueno as first elected mayor. In the 1955

elections, Emilio Alegado was voted mayor and served for

three consecutive terms up to 1965 when he met his

untimely demise. He was succeeded by Eustaquio Cariño,

who served Alegado’s unexpired term up to 1967.

     Since its existence, first as a district and then as a

regular municipality, Glan had been a part of Cotabato

Province. On July 14, 1966, Republic Act No. 4849 was

passed creating South Cotabato into a separate province

comprising Glan and 10 other municipalities. However, it

was not until the regular elections of November 1967 that

South Cotabato elected its first set of officials and functioned

as a regular province beginning on January 1, 1968.

     Also, the 1967 election brought Atty. Enrique D. Yap,

Sr. as the first duly elected mayor of Glan under the new

province of South Cotabato and served as such until 1986,

when he was replaced by Atty. Leoncio R. Caballero, Jr. as

OIC-Mayor following the EDSA People Power Revolt.

     Atty. Leoncio R. Caballero, Jr. went on to win as

municipal mayor in the local elections subsequently held in

1988 and served up to March 16, 1992. In 1992 he ran and

won as Provincial Board Member of South Cotabato. His Vice

Mayor, Victor D. Siao, succeeded him briefly as acting

Municipal Mayor.

       In the 1992 synchronized elections, Atty. Enrique D.

Yap, Sr. returned as municipal mayor and served for three

consecutive terms until his death on April 12, 2000. Atty.

Leoncio R. Caballero, Jr. , who was elected Vice Mayor in the

1998 local elections, took over as Mayor by law of


       May 19, 1992 saw the birth of Sarangani Province

composed of seven municipalities, namely: Maitum, Kiamba,

Maasim, Malungon, Malapatan, Glan, and Alabel as the

capital town.

    In the May 2001 elections, former Sarangani Provincial

Board Member and son of the late Mayor Enrique D. Yap, Sr.,

Enrique B. Yap, Jr., was elected Municipal Mayor, with

Venancio Wata, Jr. as Vice Mayor.

    Mayor Enrique B. Yap, Jr. was succeeded in 2010 by his

younger brother, the incumbent Mayor, Victor James B. Yap,

Sr. Their elder sister, Vivien B. Yap, is the incumbent Vice


       At present, Glan--dubbed the "Coconut Queen of the

South"--is moving every inch closer to its desired destiny to

be the aqua-marine and tourism center of SOCKSARGEN and

eventually the first city of Sarangani Province.