Dipolog
began as tribal settlement of the Subanons who were part of
the second wave of Malay migrants to the Philippines. Earliest
recorded historical entries date back to 1834 when a civil government
was organized by the Spanish Provincial Government of Misamis
with the Appointment of a CAPITAN as town executive, a TENIENTE
and an AGUACIL to maintain Law and Order.
Dipolog
even before it became a municipality and the seat of the provincial
government, was already the commercial center of the province
and the distribution point of goods coming in from Luzon, Visayas
and the northern cities of Mindanao. About 90% of the wholesalers
in the province are in Dipolog including their respective warehousing
facilities. Over the years, infrastructure facilities and other
essential services were improved and developed to link this
part of the region to the rest of the country. Having attained
this level of development (support facilities and services)
and economic growth, Dipolog aims to expand its horizon to achieve
a broad-based growth, and be considered an active player in
all commercial and industrial activities in Northwestern Mindanao.
This is taking into account the regional perspective on the
Brunie, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East Asian Growth Areas
(BIMP-EAGA) initiative.
Dipolog
therefore looks into a vision to become a trading hub in Northwestern
Mindanao. Expand the commercial activities towards the southern
portion of the city where a vast flat land awaits development.
In the process, the city will also couple it with industrial
development. Considering that Dipolog is within the Dapitan
- Dipolog - Katipunan - Roxas - Manukan Industrial Corridor,
established by the Province of Zamboanga del Norte and most
of the agricultural products of the province are influenced
by the marketing system of Dipolog, the city can be the seat
of industrial development of the province in the near future.
Dipolog’s
advantage is its geographical location. It is the nearest point
in the Zamboanga Peninsula towards the major cities and trading
centers of Luzon, the Visayas and the northern coastal cities
of Mindanao. It is now the commercial center of Zamboanga del
Norte where the support facilities are far more advanced than
the neighboring municipalities and the City of Dapitan.
