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In accordance with the code of Mindanao and Sulu, on July 10, 1916, Labason was made a municipal
district, making Panganuran as the seat of government under Zamboanga. The extent of its jurisdiction was from Baliguian to Banigan. Mandang
Kawan, a Subano, was appointed as the first Municipal District President, with Don Juan Moro as the Vice President.
Economic and Social conditions of the people were improved after Labason was made a Municipal District. Years later, the people
of Labason felt the need to be independent from the town of Sindangan such desires were granted by the
government.
On January 24, 1948, Labason was created into a municipality by virtue of the Executive Order No. 79, dated August 12, 1947. Included
in this Executive Order is the creation of Barangays of Dansalan, Kipit and Patawag under Labason’s
jurisdiction.
Gil Sanchez, Sr. was appointed as the first Mayor of the town, with Constancio Galon as his Vice-Mayor. The Honorable Gil Sanchez, Sr. started the foundation of development for Labason.
Town planning, laying out of roads and creation of new barangays were undertaken during his term. He also facilitated the opening and re- opening of some schools.
In 1952, a Cadastral Survey for the Municipality was undertaken by Certeza Surveying Company under the Economic Development Authority (ECA) project 6 and 7.
In accordance to the resolution dated
October 1, 1952, Mayor Sanchez was given the authority by the Municipal Council to send circular letters to all the mayors of the congested provinces of Luzon, Visayas and other parts of Mindanao in order to disseminate information on
the opportunity of acquiring lands in this portion of the archipelago. As a result of such action, people from Luzon, Visayas and other parts of Mindanao
came to settle to this municipality. The lands in the town proper were subdivided, and encouraged the people to own lots and to develop them. Business started to sprout and more people begun to engage in commercial activities. It was then the first pace of Labason’s journey towards development.
During the elections in 1956, Generoso Tokong was the elected Mayor, together with Leoncio Bihag as the Vice-Mayor. They continued the unfinished projects of the past administration and
introduced new improvements. One of which is the
construction of the temporary market and Municipal building. He was re-elected in the 1960m\ polls and Atty. Primitivo Abarquez, Jr. was his Vice-Mayor during his term.
However, in the 1964 elections, Graciano B. Canda won as Mayor of Labason. Improvements of the existing projects were undertaken by the Mayor, thus development was in a faster pace.
The presence of roads and bridges also gave ease in the
implementation of all his programs and projects. New barangays were created, new barangay roads were opened and existing roads were improved and maintained.
Mayor Graciano B. Canda stayed in the Office from 1964 to 1986. He had started and finished some projects, famous of those is the Irrigation Dam in La Union and the Labason Emergency Hospital.
After the Snap Elections and the People Power Revolution at EDSA in 1986, Mayor Graciano B. Canda was then replaced by the OIC Mayor Francisco Buctuan, Sr. who stayed in the office from April 1986 to November 1987. He
facilitated the gravelling of some barangay roads. Months before the 1988 polls, Dr. Sagrado Ocaya was elected as Mayor. Some of the local and nationally funded projects during his administration were the water catchment in Bayangan, Office spaces at the ABC Gym and part of the sea wall.
On February 10, 1990 the land area of Labason decreased from 55,950.00 to 32,692.715002 hectares due to the creation of the Municipality of Kalawit. Labason gave
twelve barangays to the newly created municipality.
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