New Bataan

New Bataan, officially the Municipality of New Bataan (Cebuano: Lungsod sa Bag-ong Bataan; Tagalog: Bayan ng Bagong Bataan), is a municipality in the province of Davao de Oro, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 51,466 people.

The municipality was founded on 18 June 1968, through Republic Act No. 4756.

With then First Lady Luz Banzon Magsaysay who helped in the approval of the town site reservation in now Barangay Cabinuangan, the municipality got its name in honor to her who came and got prominence in Bataan, where also Tagalog settlers in the area came from during Commonwealth and post-World War II periods.

The municipality was one of the hardest-hit towns of Typhoon Pablo when it hit the town on 4 December 2012.

New Bataan has a total land area of 55,315 hectares (136,690 acres)  and is situated north and west of Davao Oriental province; south of Municipality of Compostela and west of Municipality of Maragusan. It is surrounded by mountain ranges, with over 50% of its territory being forest cover that has been the source of livelihood for some people living there. The barangays of New Bataan that are mostly covered with forest are Andap, Tandawan, Camanlangan, Manurigao. Manurigao is the most remote among the barangay because of the absence of a better road and transportation.

The municipality is also watered by various rivers. One of which is the Mayo River that flows from the mountain of Andap and empties into the Agusan River. The Batoto river is also one of the biggest, it flows from the western part of the area. The northwestern portion of the municipality forms part on the contiguous plain of Compostela valley.

It is about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from Compostela, 40 kilometres (25 mi) from the provincial capital Nabunturan, and 75 kilometres (47 mi) from Tagum.

New Bataan is politically divided into 16 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.