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BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF MANUEL A. ROXAS |
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Dictated by the fruitful period of development, the dissolved town was again created into a seperate municipality on June 17, 1967 by virtue of Republic Act 5077, authored by the lone congressman of Zamboanga del Norte at that time, the Hon. Alberto Q. Ubay. The bounderies forming the municipality are from Dohinob Daku River in the south and the Minang Creek in the north with the inclusion of barangays Piñamar, Gubat, Lower Irasan, Pangologon, Situbo and Tantingon to become 21 barangays comprising the Municipality of Pres. Manuel A. Roxas.
The municipality of President Manuel A. Roxas was separated
from its mother town – Katipunan and created into district and
separate municipal by virtue of Presidential Proclamation
No.177 of then President Diosdado Macapagal. It was originally
composed of 14 barangays and bounded on the west and east by
Dohinob Daku and Piao Rivers. However a petition was passed by
then Vice- President Emmanuel Pelaez who questioned the legality
of the said proclamation on the belief and the premised that the
creation of the municipality should be an act of congress. Thus,
ten months later from its creation , the new municipality was
reverted back to former status as one of the Barangays of
Katipunan, by virtue of a supreme court ruling.
On June 17,1967, the dissolved town as again created into a
separate municipality by virtue of R.A. 5077. This time, the
boundaries are from Dohinob Daku River in the South and the
Minang creek in the North with 21 comprising Barangays.
At present, Roxas is composed of 31 Barangays due to creation of
ten additional Barangays on March 9, 1982 under the provision of
Presidential Decree No. 86 and 86-A. It has a population of
33,659 per 2000 NSO census survey and a land area of 27,082.2847
hectares. Six of the existing Barangays are located along the
shoreline and the rest are on hilly grounds. The social and economic structure of the municipality of Roxas has shown marked improvement over the fast years since its creation. For the year 2001, Roxas has a budget of P 29,000,000.00, P 26,000,000.00 of which is from Internal Revenue Allotment and P 3,000,000.00 from local sources. Today, Roxas has involved into one of the progressive and developing municipalities in the province of Zamboanga del Norte. Roxas has come along way from what it was ten (10) years ago. At present, a spacious, beautiful and artistically landscaped plaza and parks awaits visitors and residents alike in the heart of the municipality, fronting the municipal hall. Roxas has also its own water system ( Roxas Water District ), one Rural Bank and numerous schools located in Barangays and Sitios for elementary and high school, located in different Barangays. Large and beautiful edifices were constructed fronting the municipal plaza, which serve as offices of the various government agencies.
Recently, a mini-gymnasium has started its construction and
expected to add more attraction to this municipality. Soon, a
tennis court, children’s playground and a new public market
and terminal in the municipality will be constructed. It has
its own construction equipment like three (3) units dump
trucks, one (1) mini dump truck, one unit grader, one unit
bulldozer, one unit pay loader, two units (2) backhoe,
one unit garbage truck, one unit forklift, one unit concrete
mixer and such like facilities that help the development
preferably on infrastructure projects. Numerous projects are
lined up for the municipality for the next five years. Various projects are conceptualized for the municipality, which are based on the existing needs, problem as the aspirations as perceived by the municipal constituents and local officials. There are also programs and projects designed to boost the goal of the municipality to become one of the thriving towns in the province of Zamboanga del Norte in support the province’s vision.
President Manuel A. Roxas’ future is definitely bright
and shining. It is strategically located the
agro-industrial Corridor of Zamboanga del Norte. With the
putting up of the provincial Agro-Industrial Center (PAIC), in
Barangay Irasan, Roxas, Zamboanga del Norte, there is a
big possibility that Roxas will become the Industrial
Center of the whole province of Zamboanga del Norte in
the coming years. The PAIC, which is the initial site of
the development for the Agro-Industrial growth, has an
existing open area of 44 hectares suitable for light to
medium industries. At present, the major industry operating in
the municipality is the Private Oil Mills-POMS Ventures
Corporation formerly Southern Islands Oil Mill (SIOM) which is
located at Barangay Nabilid. The Nabilid municipal port had
contributed additional source of income eventhough it is not yet
fully developed since it is devolved into this municipality by
the Philippine Port Authority.
For the people of Roxas, this calls for more challenges, more
development, more progress in terms of financial, social and
economic status of the municipality. The reigning officials of
the municipality have made it their vision to have a more
progressive town and enhanced public service for the welfare of
the constituents. The local leaders are continuing their
endeavor towards development and have formulated various plan
and projects.
The municipality has just classified recently as a Second
Class municipality because of the amount of its realized annual
income . With its inclusion in the
Dapitan-Dipolog-Katipunan-Roxas-Manukan (DDKRM) industrial
corridor for development, and the present leadership who is so
development oriented, the municipality is expected to further
increase its development pace than what is presently being
experienced. The development of the municipality as an
industrial town is greatly helped by its strategic location, the
existence of the municipal wharf and the several industrial
firms already operating within the identified industrial sites
of the municipality. For the constituents of Roxas, this calls for more challenges, more development , more progress in terms of financial, social , economic and human resource development status of the municipality. The present local officials are one in their vision to enhance public service for the welfare of the constituents. In this endeavor, they are counting not only on the municipality’s available resources but also on the generous support of its constituents.
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