Tandubas

Tandubas, officially the Municipality of Tandubas (Tagalog: Bayan ng Tandubas), is a municipality in the province of Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 34,316 people.^[5]

Tandubas تندوبس
Municipality
Municipality of Tandubas
Flag Seal
Map of Tawi-Tawi with Tandubas highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Tandubas Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 5°08′06″N 120°20′46″E
Country	Philippines
Region	Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
Province	Tawi-Tawi
District	Lone district
Founded	July 1, 1958
Barangays	20 (see Barangays)
Government  [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• Mayor	Al-Shalid A. Salih
• Vice Mayor	Rahiema A. Salih
• Representative	Dimszar M. Sali
• Municipal Council	Members Wannur M. Atara Nur J. Anual Hja Aida T. Utunain Arwin K. Chio Alnahada S. Dalagan Ferhana N. Matolo Alkadi T. Antam Almurad B. Salih
• Electorate	15,405 voters (2025)
Area [2]
• Total	552.05 km2 (213.15 sq mi)
Elevation	8.0 m (26.2 ft)
Highest elevation	360 m (1,180 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2024 census)[3]
• Total	34,702
• Density	63/km2 (160/sq mi)
• Households	5,649
Economy
• Income class	2nd municipal income class
• Poverty incidence	41.56 % (2021)[4]
• Revenue	₱ 293.2 million (2022)
• Assets	₱ 309.2 million (2022)
• Expenditure	₱ 294 million (2022)
• Liabilities	₱ 3.078 million (2022)
Service provider
• Electricity	Tawi Tawi Electric Cooperative (TAWELCO)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	7502
PSGC	1907007000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)68
Native languages	Sama Tagalog
Website	www.tandubas.gov.ph

Etymology

The word Tandubas coined from two Malay words Tanjung Bas. Tanjung means “place”, while the word Bas means “Landing”. Therefore, Tandubas means a place of landing, referring to a group of Malaysian traders who sailed across many islands and landed on an island what is now Tandubas Island. Seeing the abundance of resources to sustain their living, this group of Malaysian traders finally decided to settle on that island and named it as Tanjung Bas.

For many years, the island had been named as Tanjung Bas. The Malaysian word Tanjung has its equivalent in Sama dialect which is Tandu. The name Tanjungbas has been changed by the natives to Tandubas, a name that was used from generation to generation.

History

Tandubas had been a part of the Sultanate of Sulu prior to the creation of Sulu as a province under the Republic of the Philippines. When the province of Sulu was created, Tandubas was one of the Districts, an administrative sub-division of the then Department of Education under the Division of Sulu. By virtue of Executive Order No. 355, dated July 1, 1958, Tandubas was converted to a Municipality under the Province of Sulu, covering areas now under the municipality of Sapa-Sapa, the municipality of Languyan, an area in the mainland of Tawi-Tawi. When the Province of Tawi-Tawi was created by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 302, dated September 27, 1973, the Municipality of Tandubas became one of the municipalities in the Province of Tawi-Tawi.

By 2008, the municipality celebrated its Golden Anniversary. In a bid to create more local government units that comprise the Province of Tawi-Tawi, the Municipality of Sapa-Sapa was created entirely from Tandubas Municipality. Also the Municipality of Languyan was created partly out of the territorial jurisdiction of the Municipality of Tandubas, thus greatly reducing the land area of the mother municipality. This was made possible by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1086.

Geography

The Municipality of Tandubas is located in the north-eastern part of the province of Tawi-Tawi. It is bounded in the north by Languyan Municipality and Sulu Sea; south by Celebes Sea; east by Municipality of South Ubian: and west by Municipality of Sapa-Sapa.

The municipality is approximately 63 kilometres (39 mi) away from the Municipality of Bongao, the capital town of Tawi-Tawi. From Bongao it is accessible by water transportation. Travel time from the port of Bongao to the Municipality of Tandubas takes about five (5) hours using a motor launch with an average speed. For a speedboat or a fast craft it will only take about an hour.

Barangays

Tandubas is politically subdivided into 20 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.

• Baliungan - M
• Kakoong
• Kepeng
• Lahay-lahay
• Naungan
• Sallangan heya & sallangan diki
• Sapa
• Silantup
• Tapian
• Tongbangkaw
• Tangngah (Tangngah Ungus matata)
• Ballak
• Butun
• Himbah - M
• Kalang-kalang
• Salamat
• Sibakloon
• Tandubato
• Tapian Sukah
• Taruk

12 barangays are located on the island of Tandubas (Tongbangkaw, Tapian, Ballak, Kakoong, Tangngah, Silantup, Butun, Kepeng, Sallangan, Tapian Sokah, Sibakloon and Sapa); 2 barangays are located on Tingungun Island (Kalang-kalang and Salamat); 1 barangay is located at Naungan Island (barangay Naungan); 2 barangays are located on Tandubato island (Lahay-Lahay and Tandubato); 2 barangays are located on Tawitawi Island (Himba and Baliongan; marked by an "M"), and 1 barangay located on Taruk Island (Barangay Taruk).

Climate

Climate data for Tandubas, Tawi-Tawi
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	29 (84)	29 (84)	29 (84)	30 (86)	30 (86)	30 (86)	29 (84)	30 (86)	30 (86)	30 (86)	29 (84)	29 (84)	30 (85)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	25 (77)	24 (75)	24 (75)	25 (77)	25 (77)	25 (77)	25 (77)	25 (77)	25 (77)	25 (77)	25 (77)	25 (77)	25 (77)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	157 (6.2)	115 (4.5)	123 (4.8)	96 (3.8)	136 (5.4)	120 (4.7)	104 (4.1)	89 (3.5)	86 (3.4)	131 (5.2)	151 (5.9)	159 (6.3)	1,467 (57.8)
Average rainy days	20.4	17.5	20.4	21.1	26.7	25.7	26.0	24.5	24.0	27.7	26.3	24.7	285
Source: Meteoblue[6]

Demographics

Population census of Tandubas

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1903	3,510	—
1918	9,080	+6.54%
1939	11,342	+1.06%
1948	15,089	+3.22%
1960	20,038	+2.39%
1970	27,069	+3.05%
1975	37,421	+6.71%
1980	19,968	−11.80%
1990	19,505	−0.23%
1995	20,646	+1.07%
2000	24,900	+4.10%
2007	33,037	+3.98%
2010	27,748	−6.15%
2015	29,390	+1.10%
2020	34,316	+3.32%
2024	34,702	+0.27%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[7][8][9][10][11]

Economy

Poverty Incidence of Tandubas

10 20 30 40 50 60 2000 59.14 2003 48.82 2006 45.20 2009 35.30 2012 27.55 2015 26.01 2018 23.93 2021 41.56 Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]