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Historical Background
The name of the Province was derived from the Malay word Jambangan,
meaning a pot or place of flowers. Historically, Zamboanga was the
capital of the Moro Province, which comprised of five (5) districts,
namely: Cotabato, Davao, Sulu, Lanao and Zamboanga. In 1940, these
districts became individual provinces. Zamboanga City became the capital
of the Zamboanga Province. Soon after the Second World War, the provincial
capital was transferred to Dipolog. After that, Molave was created
as the provincial capital of the Province of Zamboanga by virtue of
RA 286 dated June 16, 1948.
 Zamboanga
del Sur was carved out from the former Zamboanga Province that encompassed
the entire peninsula in Southwestern Mindanao on September 17, 1952
by virtue of Republic Act 711. As the 52nd province of the Republic,
it originally consisted of 11 towns, which later expanded into 42
municipalities and one city-Pagadian, its capital.
It was sub-divided into three (3) congressional districts with
11 municipalities and one (1) city in the first, 15 municipalities
in the second, and 16 towns in the third. In 1990, Executive Order
429 reorganized the administrative set-up of Region IX and identified
Pagadian City as the new regional center. The gradual transfer of
regional offices of the national government agencies started in
mid-2002. The Department of Agriculture (DA) with the Bureau of
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) were the first that had transferred
while other regional offices only established their field or extension
office.
Political developments in February 2001 saw another major change
in the territorial jurisdiction of Zamboanga del Sur. Its inhabitants
voted to create a new province out of the Third Congressional District-named
the Zamboanga Sibugay Province. Republic Act 8973 embodies the legal
creation of the said province. The mother province is now left with
26 municipalities and one city with 681 barangays.
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