Magsaysay was formerly as a part of San Jose. On April 3, 1969, it was created as a separate municipality by virtue of Republic Act 5459, signed by President Ferdinand Marcos.
Somewhere in 1987, the New People's Army established a base in the hinterlands of the municipality. In October of the same year, a group composing of hundreds of NPA cadres arrived at the municipality via 6x6 ELF trucks and attacked the municipal hall and the nearby police station, in which 1 police officer, 3 prisoners and 1 civilian were killed in the raid, while 2 other police officers were abducted and brought into their mountain base before being released. No employees inside the municipal hall were killed, but the raid destroyed several important documents in the hall.[6]
Geography
A small settlement in Magsaysay, away from the town center.
Magsaysay, one of the eleven municipalities in the Occidental Mindoro, lies on the southernmost part of Mindoro Island, and is adjacent to the municipality of San Jose on the north; on the east separated by chain of valleys and mountains in the municipality of Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro; on the south, by Garza Island; and on the west by Iling Island. It is facing the China Sea, with vast plains and valleys. It is characterized by rugged terrain with plain areas. Slope ranges from level to very steep sloping areas. The highest point of elevation is 543 feet above sea level.
The municipality has a total land area of 29,670 hectares (73,300 acres) with a land density of 91.0 per square kilometer. Magsaysay is characterized by rugged terrain with plain areas located at Barangays Calawag, Gapasan, Laste, Nicolas, Purnaga, and Paclolo. Slope of 3-8 percent are observed in the surroundings of Barangays Alibog, Lourdes, Sibalat, Poblacion and Santa Teresa. It is drained by the Caguray River.
Slope ranges from level to very steeply sloping land. The highest point of elevation at 543 feet above sea level located at the north-east portion of Barangay Purnaga, which has slopes of 18 percent and above. Majority or 97.14 percent of the total land area falls below 18 percent slope, which is based on the Forestry Code can be classified Alienable and Disposable or areas that can be owned. This manifests minimal limitation in terms of land development for land falling above 18 percent or land classified as forests have minimal share of only 2.86 percent.
The municipality has abundant water resource for domestic consumption and irrigation supply. Ground water serves as a main source of potable water supply including natural springs. Various river systems also traverse the locality, which is being utilized for irrigation such as Caguray River. In the same manner, it also serves as a natural drainage system in the locality.
Magsaysay is 187 kilometres (116mi) from Mamburao and 215 kilometres (134mi) from Calapan.
Barangays
Magsaysay is politically subdivided into 12 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
Currently, only one is classified urban and the rest of the barangays are rural. Five of which are coastal barangays.
Since 1970, total population has been continuously increasing with fluctuating growth rate. The highest growth rate of 5.98 percent was noted between 1975 and 1980 while the least growth rate of 1.76 percent was recorded between 1985 and 1990.
Language
The municipality is home to the indigenous Ratagnon language of the Ratagnon people. The language is extremely endangered, with only 2 people speaking the language out of 2,000 Ratagnon residents. Due to government programs from the 1960s to 1970s, most Ratagnons have shifted to the Tagalog language, endangering their own culture. There has yet to be a revitalization program for the language. If no such program is made within the next 5–10 years, the language may be deemed as the first language of the Philippines that has gone extinct in the 21st century, and the fifth Philippine language to be extinct.[13] Other indigenous language spoken in the municipality include Hanunu'o and Buhid. Karay-a and Hiligaynon are also varyingly spoken in Magsaysay due to its geographical contact with Panay.
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