Davao del Norte: History
=== Establishment ===
Davao del Norte and Davao de Oro (Compostela Valley) by R.A. 8470, January 30, 1998, together with Davao Oriental, and Davao Occidental from Davao del Sur by R.A. 10360, January 14, 2013, used to be a whole province simply known as Davao Region. This original province was split into three: Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, and Davao del Sur when Republic Act No. 4867 (authored by Representative Lorenzo S. Sarmiento, Sr.) was signed into law on May 8, 1967, by President Ferdinand Marcos.
Davao del Norte originally comprised thirteen municipalities: Asuncion, Babak (now in Samal), Compostela, Kapalong, Mabini, Mawab, Monkayo, Nabunturan, Panabo, Pantukan, Samal, Santo Tomas and Tagum. On May 6, 1970, six more municipalities were created: Carmen, Kaputian (now in Samal), Maco, Montevista, New Bataan, and New Corella.
The passage of Republic Act No. 6430 on June 17, 1972, changed the name of the province from Davao del Norte to Davao.
For Davao del Norte and the island of Mindanao, things began to take a turn for the worse during the last months of Ferdinand Marcos' first presidential term. Marcos' debt-driven election spending had precipitated an economic crisis by late 1969, which then led to social unrest, violent crackdowns on protests, and eventually to the radicalization of many students throughout the country. In addition, news of the 1968 Jabidah massacre ignited ethnic tensions which encouraged the formation of secessionist movements in Mindanao. The September 1972 declaration of Martial Law then began a 14-year period historically remembered for its human rights abuses, often involving the warrantless detention, murder, and physical, sexual, or mental torture of political opponents, student activists, journalists, religious workers, farmers, and others who fought against the Marcos dictatorship. Among the most prominent of these victims were student activist Godofredo Abellana and labor organizer Eduardo Lanzona, who both fled political persecution in the urban areas and worked in the rural areas of Davao Del Norte.
Another major event in Davao Del Norte during this era was the establishment of a massive banana plantation in the province by Marcos crony Antonio Floirendo Sr., a major contributor to Marcos's 1965 and 1969 presidential campaigns. After Floirendo's initial business plans were rebuffed by the Senate during prior administrations, Marcos gave Floirendo special permission to lease 6,000 hectares of government land despite a 1,024 hectare limit, and to also hire prisoners from the Davao Penal Colony (Dapecol) as his laborers, soon allowing Floirendo to export bananas to the lucrative Japanese market and establishing him as the Philippines' "Banana King." …