Lanao del Norte: History
The province of Lanao existed from 1914 until 1959. In 1959, Republic Act No. 222 was passed by the Philippine Congress, partitioning Lanao into two provinces: Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur. The new province was inaugurated on July 4, with Iligan as its capital. Back in the Spanish period, Iligan was founded by thousands of Visayan immigrants and garrisoned by a hundred Spanish soldiers.
The province then consisted of the municipalities of Balo-i, Kauswagan, Bacolod, Maigo, Kolambugan, Tubod, Baroy, Lala, Kapatagan, Karomatan and the following municipal districts that got converted into regular municipalities of Matungao, Pantao Ragat, Munai, Tangcal, and Nunungan.
In 1977, President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed Resolution No. 805, s. 1977 of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Parliamentary Bill No. 586) sponsored by Assemblyman Abdullah D. Dimaporo, into Presidential Decree 181 transferring the province's capital from Iligan to the municipality of Tubod.
In October 1984, inaugural ceremonies were held to celebrate the occasion of the transfer of the Provincial Capitol from Poblacion, Tubod to the Don Mariano Marcos Government Center (now Governor Arsenio A. Quibranza Provincial Government Center) at Pigcarangan, in Tubod.
Despite the outbreak of the conflict of the MILF led by Abdullah Commander Bravo Goldiano Macapaar bin Sabbar and the Philippine Army in Kauswagan in March 2000, through the provincial government's effort, peace and order was restored in the province.
In 2018, the Bangsamoro Organic Law was passed into law; this law provided for the establishment of a new Bangsamoro autonomous region to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. According to this law, the six municipalities of Munai, Tagoloan, Pantar, Balo-i, Tangcal, and Nunungan would be incorporated into this new region should a majority of voters in both the affected municipality and the parent province vote in favor of inclusion of the aforementioned municipalities in the proposed autonomous region in a plebiscite. The plebiscite was held the following year. A majority of voters in the affected municipalities voted in favor of inclusion in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region; however, the rest of Lanao del Norte voted strongly against, and as a result, none of the six municipalities were included in the new autonomous region after the provincial government campaigned against their inclusion.