Tagum City Day in the Philippines Date in the current year: March 7, 2024

Tagum is the capital of the Philippine province of Davao del Norte on the island of Mindanao. The original name of the settlement was Magugpo. It derives from the words mago (a local name for a certain tree) and ugpo (“very high”) in one of the indigenous languages. According to legend, the first tribes that settled here occupied the river basin surrounded by the forest so tall and thick they could hardly see the sun, hence the name. The origin of the name Tagum is unclear, but it may derive from the Visayan name for the indigo plant.

Throughout most of its history, the Davao Gulf region where Tagum is situated was inhabited by indigenous ethnic groups. By the mid-19th century, it was part of the Sultanate of Maguindanao and was ruled by Datu Bago, serving as a vassal under the sultan. When the Spaniards arrived to conquer the region, Datu Bago led the resistance, but he and his people were ultimately defeated, and the Spanish took control over the Davao Gulf region.

The Spanish left the region in 1898 following the defeat of Spain in the Philippine Revolution and the establishment of the First Philippine Republic. However, the republic was short-lived; after the defeat in the Philippine-American War, the Philippines became an unincorporated territory of the United States, and the Americans took over the government.

Magugpo officially became a municipal district of Davao City in 1917. Its active development began in the 1920s, when migrants started to arrive under American homesteading programs. The first schools in Magugpo were built in the 1930s, and a decade later, Magugpo was separated from Davao City, becoming a full-fledged municipality. It was officially declared a municipality on June 23, 1941 and was renamed Tagum in 1948.

Throughout the 1950s, the municipality continued to develop with the construction of new roads, a public market, a new municipal hall, a municipal health center, and two colleges. In 1967, the province of Davao where Tagum was located was split into three new provinces, and Tangum became the capital of the newly created province of Davao del Norte.

By the late 1980s, Tagum had started to become one of the most important urban centers in southeastern Mindanao. Its fast urbanization eventually resulted in Tagum being granted cityhood. Tagum was officially converted from a municipality into a component city of the province of Davao del Norte on March 7, 1998 (in the Philippines, component cities are cities that are governed as part of the province in which they are located rather than independently).

Tagum City Day, also referred to as simply Tagum Day, is a special non-working holiday in Tagum. It is marked by a civic-military parade, a beauty pageant, various cultural programs, exhibition, and other celebratory events and activities.