Jabonga, Agusan del Norte Etymology

Dec 27, 2025
3 min read

Jabonga traces its origin to a village formerly occupied by Negritoes and a few Christian immigrants led by a Manobo Negrito meztizo Angelecio Montante, also called Agaras. The village became known as Celopan, a name derived from the bamboo growing along the bank of the river that was made into smoking pipes.

Sometime during the mid-nineteenth century, the increasing number of inhabitants who were joined by Christian immigrants from other places transferred to a new settlement in the present site of Colorado. By this time, the Spanish government was already sending missionaries to all parts of the island, and the group that went up the Kalinawan River settled on Colorado, a name derived from the word Colorado, meaning colored, because of the white spotted arms of Domingo Mondoy, the brave settler who dared to face the newcomers.

Proceeding upstream, the missionaries reached Celopan. Seeing a native inside a hut, the floor of which was just one meter above the water, they asked him what the place was called. Thinking that the Spaniards were referring to the hut, he answered Habongan. Thus, Celopan was renamed Habongan, which later became Jabonga.

Source: https://adnppo.pro13.pnp.gov.ph/jabonga-mps/

Special credits: https://www.facebook.com/KiplirbamTv

https://caragaregion.com/agusandelnorte/

Church in town: 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡

Augustinian Recollect Friars (OAR) established the Jabonga mission in 1621 along the bank of the Calinawan River as the site where Bgy. Colorado is situated at present. The Spanish Jesuit Missionary, Fr. Saturnino Urios, led the villagers in 1877 to gather narra, magcono, tugas, bayong, and other materials for a more permanent church. The following year, construction was undertaken near the site where the Celupan River empties into the lake. Fr. Guillermo Llobera, SJ, blessed the new Church measuring 84x24x16 varas on the feast of Corpus Christi of 1897. Missionaries from the Butuan residence have supplied pastoral care to the pueblo since its foundation.

In 1915, Dutch Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) succeeded the Jesuits in shepherding this "Vista". Bullet-pocked marks on her sanctuary walls and ceiling were her fair share of World War II memories. In 1955, the parish of Kitcharao took care of her spiritual administration.

Monsignor DF Morelos, the First Bishop of Butuan, raised Jabonga and Santiago towns into a single parish on May 27, 1979, with our Church of Our Lady of Assumption as the Mother Church. Fr. Avelino Balatucan was named the first pastor. Typhoon Nitang blew off a portion of its roof on September 3, 1984, leaving intact the antique table of the main altar.

As the nation celebrates the centennial year of Philippine Independence, Monsignor Juan de Dios Pueblos, the present Bishop of Butuan, appointed Fr. Joesilo C. Amalla on June 1, 1998, for the "Cura Animarum" of the present-day Jabonganons.

Source: https://www.flickr.com/.../1295.../albums/72157657703170156/

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐉𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

The municipality has a land area of 293.00 square kilometers or 113.13 square miles, which constitutes 11.22% of Agusan del Norte's total area. Its population, as determined by the 2020 Census, was 24,855. This represented 6.41% of the total population of Agusan del Norte province, or 0.89% of the overall population of the Caraga region. Based on these figures, the population density is computed at 85 inhabitants per square kilometer or 220 inhabitants per square mile.

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐚: