Rajah Buayan

Rajah Buayan, officially the Municipality of Rajah Buayan (Maguindanaon: Ingud nu Rajah Buayan; Iranun: Inged a Rajah Buayan; Tagalog: Bayan ng Rajah Buayan), is a municipality in the province of Maguindanao del Sur. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 27,832 people.^[5]

Rajah Buayan
Municipality
Municipality of Rajah Buayan
Municipal Compound
Flag Seal
Motto:  Udzul ka Rajah Buayan!
Map of Maguindanao del Sur with Rajah Buayan highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Rajah Buayan Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 6°54′39″N 124°33′03″E
Country	Philippines
Region	Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
Province	Maguindanao del Sur
District	Lone district
Founded	September 4, 2004
Barangays	11 (see Barangays)
Government  [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• Mayor	Yacob Lumenda Ampatuan
• Vice Mayor	Jerry P. Makalay
• Representative	Mohamad P. Paglas Sr.
• Municipal Council	Members Jamshid A. Ampatuan Syed Kamal Reza L. Ampatuan Mohamiden D. Lumenda Mansor S. Makalay Yamashita L. Ibrahim Alvin M. Dagandal Bai Isnaeera A. Blah Rashed C. Badal
• Electorate	14,731 voters (2025)
Area [2]
• Total	71.98 km2 (27.79 sq mi)
Elevation	15 m (49 ft)
Highest elevation	76 m (249 ft)
Lowest elevation	5 m (16 ft)
Population  (2024 census)[3]
• Total	37,437
• Density	520/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
• Households	4,589
Economy
• Poverty incidence	38.78 % (2021)[4]
• Revenue	₱ 145.7 million (2022)
• Assets	₱ 107.7 million (2022)
• Expenditure	₱ 1,506 million (2022)
• Liabilities	₱ 4.779 million (2022)
Service provider
• Electricity	Maguindanao Electric Cooperative (MAGELCO)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	9611
PSGC	1903829000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)64
Native languages	Maguindanao Tagalog

History

Sultanate of Buayan

See also: Sultanate of Buayan and Datu Uto

Rajah Buayan, previously known as Sapakan, rose to prominence as the capital of Buayan during Datu Uto's reign in 1875. It also served as the seat of power for the Sultanates of Tinungkup and Bacat in 1899, which were governed by Datu Ali and Datu Piang respectively.

Modern era

The municipality was created under Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act No. 166 dated October 28, 2002, and was ratified through plebiscite on September 4, 2004.^[6][7] It was carved out of the town of Sultan sa Barongis.

Geography

Barangays

Rajah Buayan is politically subdivided into 11 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.

• Baital
• Bakat
• Dapantis
• Gaunan
• Malibpolok
• Mileb
• Panadtaban
• Pidsandawan
• Sampao
• Tabungao
• Zapakan (Poblacion)

Climate

Climate data for Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	32 (90)	32 (90)	33 (91)	33 (91)	32 (90)	31 (88)	30 (86)	31 (88)	31 (88)	31 (88)	31 (88)	31 (88)	32 (89)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	21 (70)	21 (70)	21 (70)	22 (72)	23 (73)	23 (73)	23 (73)	23 (73)	23 (73)	23 (73)	23 (73)	22 (72)	22 (72)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	19 (0.7)	14 (0.6)	15 (0.6)	18 (0.7)	33 (1.3)	42 (1.7)	44 (1.7)	42 (1.7)	30 (1.2)	31 (1.2)	28 (1.1)	17 (0.7)	333 (13.2)
Average rainy days	6.9	5.6	6.9	8.1	15.1	17.5	17.8	18.5	14.9	14.9	12.4	8.0	146.6
Source: Meteoblue (modeled/calculated data, not measured locally)[8]

Demographics

Population census of Rajah Buayan

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
2007	24,973	—
2010	17,423	−12.28%
2015	23,652	+5.99%
2020	27,832	+3.48%
2024	37,437	+7.38%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[9][10][11][12][13]

Economy

Poverty Incidence of Rajah Buayan

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 2006 55.50 2009 53.93 2012 70.50 2015 55.35 2018 73.25 2021 38.78 Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]