Historically, Opol was a more rural area focused on agriculture and fishing, which later attracted migrants from Luzon and Visayas in the area by the turn of 20th century. Over the years, however, the municipality is gradually becoming more urbanized, as a result of local population growth and the expansion of nearby Cagayan de Oro, due to another wave of migrants from Luzon and Visayas in the area. The subdivision of rural land for new residential housing is a matter of some controversy amongst locals. The current Mayor, Jayfrancis D. Bago (commonly known as "Jay Bago"), has held office in Opol after Maximo Seno.
Etymology
The municipality's name comes from the word "opo" (white gourd), one of the widely cultivated and most abundant crops among Visayans settlers from Bohol who migrated in the area prior to Spanish colonial period. The inhabitants from the nearby village came to the area to buy the famous “opo”, until the place became popularly known as “opo”. Due to the slip of the tongue, most of the inhabitants began referring to the place as “opol”, hence the name.
History
Although the first inhabitants of Opol were Higaonon people, the area was either once largely uninhabited or slightly populated before Spanish colonial period, until one group of Visayans from Bohol led by a datu, migrated to the place and settled in the area now known as Barangay Bonbon, where they planted different types of crops for their livelihood. This made Higaonons move to the mountains from coastal areas where they initially dwell prior, to avoid contact with Visayans and later from Spaniards. Those who remained then assimilated and intermarried with both Visayans and Spaniards, resulting to the presence of Spanish mestizas and mestizos in the area.
Since the end of Spanish colonial period, Opol started to grow as migrants from Luzon and Visayas as well as the Chinese and Indians flocked to the area seeking new life and various economic opportunities awaited them. Most of the migrants were experienced farmers and other agricultural workers as well as wealthy individuals consisted of Bicolanos, Hiligaynons, Ilocanos, Kapampangans, and Tagalogs in addition to Cebuanos and Boholanos, resulting to the process of Opol's urbanization from being a once largely agricultural area due to its proximity to Cagayan de Oro, where Opol was formerly part of.
Opol was created from the barrios of Opol, Igpit, and Lower Iponan, formerly part of Cagayan de Oro, by virtue of Republic Act No. 524, approved on June 15, 1950.[8]
Geography
Barangays
Opol is politically subdivided into 14 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.
In the 2020 census, the population of Opol, Misamis Oriental, was 66,327 people,[15] with a density of 380 inhabitants per square kilometre or 980 inhabitants per square mile.
The majority of Opol's population are Roman Catholic Christians. Protestants (Baptists, Methodists, Seventh Day Adventists, Pentecostals, Evangelicals, etc.), Iglesia ni Cristo and Members Church of God International also make significant residents of the municipality. Opol also has Muslim residents mainly consist of ethnic Maranaos with Maguindanaon, Tausug and balik-Islam minorities, having two Islamic mosques located both in Barangay Barra.
Cebuano is the most widely spoken language, while Higaonon is also spoken among Opol's indigenous Higaonon tribes. Other languages spoken in the municipality are Bohol dialect of Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Kapampangan, Maguindanaon, Maranao and Tausug. Tagalog/Filipino and English are also widely understood and used in education, business, and administration as the national official languages.
Key economic activities in Opol include commercial fishing, farming, tourism/hospitality, and light industry. Notable economic infrastructure includes the San Miguel/Coca-Cola bottling plant, Lechem Food Marketing, International Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (IPI), and fishing port at Luyong-Bonbon as well as the municipal market building, located adjacent to the Opol municipal centre.
The Cagayan de Oro - Iligan highway passes through Opol, alongside the coast. The highway is a key inter-regional transport route and comprises an integral part of the Cagayan de Oro - Iligan Corridor Special Development Project. This is a major infrastructure development initiative which is likely to result in significant economic growth for Opol, Misamis Oriental and the adjoining province of Lanao del Norte in coming years
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