Tugunan

Tugunan is a newly constituted municipality in the province of Cotabato, Philippines. Although Cotabato province remains part of the Soccsksargen administrative region, Tugunan is among the municipalities placed within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao through the reorganization of barangays that joined the Bangsamoro region during the 2019 plebiscite process. The municipality is composed of nine barangays: eight formerly belonging to Pikit and one formerly belonging to Aleosan. Its institutional history is linked to the creation of the Bangsamoro region and the subsequent treatment of participating Cotabato barangays as a Special Geographic Area. When the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao replaced the former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in 2019, 63 Cotabato barangays voted to join the new autonomous region during the second phase of the plebiscite. The original municipalities and Cotabato provincial government remained outside Bangsamoro, creating a geographically and administratively unusual arrangement. By March 2020, the participating barangays were organized as the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area pending a longer-term settlement of their municipal and provincial status. The Bangsamoro Parliament approved legislation in August 2023 to consolidate the Special Geographic Area barangays into eight municipalities. Tugunan was established under Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 135. The municipality's creation was subsequently submitted to voters in a plebiscite held on April 13, 2024. The proposal received 11,501 votes in favor and 13 votes against, thereby ratifying Tugunan's formation along with the other proposed municipalities. Its legal and political emergence therefore reflects a combination of local plebiscite approval, Bangsamoro legislative action, and the administrative integration of communities that had previously been parts of municipalities outside the autonomous region. During the transition, Tugunan operated under appointed officers in charge rather than a regular elected municipal government. The Bangsamoro regional administration was expected to provide P2.5 million in initial funding until the municipality could receive its share of the National Tax Allotment. The transitional government arrangement was also connected to the municipality's continued treatment as part of the Special Geographic Area while the creation of a new province for the area remained under consideration. Abdullah Pungot Abas served as officer-in-charge mayor from July 9, 2024, through June 30, 2025, pending regular elections and the establishment of the municipality's permanent political institutions. Tugunan is therefore not a commercial brand in the conventional sense. It is a public administrative entity whose identity is associated with local government, territorial organization, and the ongoing institutional development of the Bangsamoro region. Available reference material provides limited information about its population, economy, municipal seat, public services, infrastructure, or cultural profile, so those details are not stated here.

Tugunan's creation arose from the territorial reorganization associated with the Bangsamoro peace process. In the 2019 plebiscite that established the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in place of the former autonomous region, 63 barangays in Cotabato province voted to join Bangsamoro. Their original municipalities and the province of Cotabato remained part of Soccsksargen, leaving the participating barangays as geographically separated components of a new autonomous jurisdiction. In March 2020, the participating communities were designated as the Special Geographic Area of Bangsamoro. This arrangement was transitional: the barangays were administered within the autonomous region but had not yet been consolidated into a complete set of municipalities with their own local governments. The Bangsamoro Parliament later addressed the issue by approving legislation to organize the Special Geographic Area into eight municipalities. The bill specifically establishing Tugunan was Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 135, approved on August 17, 2023. Tugunan was constituted from eight barangays formerly under the municipality of Pikit and one barangay formerly under Aleosan. Its proposed formation required confirmation by local voters. In the April 13, 2024 plebiscite, 11,501 voters supported the creation of Tugunan while 13 opposed it. The result ratified the municipality's establishment together with the other new municipalities formed from the Special Geographic Area barangays. The municipality entered operation under a transitional local-government structure. Officers in charge were selected by Bangsamoro Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim while regular elections and the completion of permanent municipal arrangements were pending. Abdullah Pungot Abas served as officer-in-charge mayor from July 9, 2024, to June 30, 2025. The municipality was also expected to receive P2.5 million from the Bangsamoro regional government until it became eligible to receive its share of the National Tax Allotment. Tugunan remained associated with the Special Geographic Area while wider questions concerning the creation of a new province and the long-term administrative structure of the area were unresolved. As a result, its early history is primarily institutional rather than commercial: it records the transition of former Cotabato barangays into a recognized municipality within Bangsamoro. Detailed information about its municipal center, demographic composition, local economy, infrastructure, and subsequent elected administration is not established by the supplied reference material.

• 2024

  Plebiscite confirms municipal creation

  [1]Tugunanen.wikipedia.org

  Voters approved Tugunan's creation on April 13, 2024, by a recorded vote of 11,501 in favor and 13 against.

• 2024

  Transitional municipal administration begins

  [1]Tugunanen.wikipedia.org

  Abdullah Pungot Abas began serving as officer-in-charge mayor on July 9, 2024, while the new municipality developed its permanent local-government structure.

• 2023

  Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 135 approved

  [1]Tugunanen.wikipedia.org

  The Bangsamoro Parliament approved the legislation creating Tugunan as one of eight municipalities formed from Special Geographic Area barangays.

• 2020

  Special Geographic Area designation

  [1]Tugunanen.wikipedia.org

  The participating Cotabato barangays were designated as Bangsamoro's Special Geographic Area, creating the transitional administrative setting from which Tugunan later emerged.

• 2019

  Cotabato barangays join Bangsamoro

  [1]Tugunanen.wikipedia.org

  During the second phase of the Bangsamoro plebiscite, 63 barangays in Cotabato province voted to join the newly created Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, while their mother municipalities and Cotabato province remained in Soccsksargen.

A newly established local government municipality within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, formed through the consolidation and plebiscite approval of nine Cotabato barangays.

• 2024

  Plebiscite approval of TugunanOther

  Background

  The legislation creating the municipality required approval by voters in the affected communities.

  Action taken

  A plebiscite was held on April 13, 2024, and voters approved the proposal by 11,501 votes to 13.

  Aftermath

  Tugunan became one of the municipalities constituted from the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area and entered a transitional period of appointed local administration.

  Source

• 2023

  Creation of Tugunan through Bangsamoro autonomy legislationStrategy

  Background

  The Special Geographic Area barangays required a durable municipal structure after joining Bangsamoro while their former municipalities remained in Cotabato's separate regional framework.

  Action taken

  The Bangsamoro Parliament approved Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 135 to establish Tugunan from nine barangays: eight from Pikit and one from Aleosan.

  Aftermath

  The proposed municipality proceeded to a plebiscite, where voters subsequently ratified its creation.

  Source

1. 1Tugunanen.wikipedia.org