President Roxas, Cotabato

President Roxas, officially the Municipality of President Roxas (Lungsod sa President Roxas; Bayan ng President Roxas), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Cotabato, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 52,512 people.

History
President Roxas, one of the five daughter municipalities of Kidapawan, was created through Republic Act No. 4869, issued on May 8, 1967, in what was the last of the partitions, when two separate clusters of barangays separated. As a portion of Matalam which is another daughter municipality created in 1961, which would separate in 1980 to form Antipas, split the municipality into two—the upper and lower parts—the municipality, upon creation, became one of few in the country with non-contingent territory.

The bill seeking the creation of this municipality, which was later approved and signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos, was first introduced in the House of Representatives on January 23, 1967 by Hon. Salipada K. Pendatun, representative of entire province of Cotabato. It was then passed and approved in the House of Senate on February 13, 1967. Most of the territories comprising the new municipality were formerly part of Kidapawan, the mother municipality extending up to the borders of Bukidnon are the vast Arakan plains, which could boast of its rich and fertile valley suitable for agricultural crops such as rubber, coffee, sugar cane, palay and corn.

Barrio Kabacan, renamed Barrio President Roxas that eventually became the seat of the municipal government was an insignificant area before 1951. In fact, it was Barrio Labuo, where the Manobo Chieftain, Datu Guabong Linog resided with his people who was thriving the area even before the outbreak of the World War II. The Manobo natives have learned to co- exist with the settlers from Visayas and Luzon. After the war, floods of emigrants from different parts of the country continued to arrive at a much faster rate so that by 1957, they had occupied almost all the vast fertile land of the Arakan plains. By this time settlers of Barrio President Roxas had bonded together into an organization called “La castellana home seekers Association” whose membership were mostly people from Negros Occidental. This group helped enhanced the rapid development of the area outpacing the rest of the earlier settlements.

In the early 1960s, Barrio President Roxas became a booming logging community. The concessionaires constructed logging roads extending beyond the Arakan Valley, making it the center of commerce and Agriculture. In the early part of 1970, the road, which was constructed by logging companies stationed at Poblacion was utilized as the main route of transportation in going out to Kidapawan passing Barangay Tuael through Barangay Binay and Poblacion of the Municipality of Magpet. It was in 1967 when the National Highway at km. 114 Paco, Kidapawan was opened. This project propelled the growth of programs and development in the area. Mobility of the people became easy not only in President Roxas but also of the entire Arakan Valley which is composed of five (5) municipalities.

Geography
The municipality of President Roxas is composed of two parts: the northern and the southern part.

Northern President Roxas is bounded by the Municipalities of Damulog and Kibawe of the province of Bukidnon on the north, on the south by the Municipality of Antipas, on the west by the Municipality of Carmen and on the east by the Municipality of Arakan.

Meanwhile, Southern President Roxas is bounded on the north by the Municipality of Antipas, on the south by Kidapawan, on the west by Matalam and on the east by the Municipality of Magpet.

Barangays
President Roxas is politically subdivided into 25 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.
 * Alegria
 * Bato-bato
 * Del Carmen
 * F. Cajelo (New Maasin)
 * Edaoman
 * Ilustre
 * Kamarahan
 * Camasi
 * Kisupaan
 * La Esperanza
 * Labu-o
 * Lamalama
 * Lomonay
 * New Cebu
 * Poblacion
 * Sagcungan
 * Salat
 * Sarayan
 * Tuael
 * Greenhill
 * Cabangbangan
 * Datu Indang
 * Datu Sundungan
 * Kimaruhing
 * Mabuhay

Demographics
In the 2020 census, the population of President Roxas, Cotabato, was 52,512 people, with a density of undefined PD/km2.

Economy

 * Industries:
 * Banana chip making
 * Fish crackers
 * Sandal making
 * Macaroni chips
 * Native chicken production