Old Kaabakan

Old Kaabakan is a newly established municipality in the province of Cotabato, Philippines. Although Cotabato province generally remains part of the Soccsksargen administrative region, Old Kaabakan is among the municipalities formed from barangays included in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao's Special Geographic Area. The municipality was created from seven barangays formerly belonging to the municipality of Kabacan. Its institutional background is connected to the political reorganization that followed the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in 2019. During the second part of the February 6, 2019 plebiscite, 63 barangays in Cotabato voted to join the new autonomous region. The mother municipalities and Cotabato province stayed outside the region, while the participating barangays were subsequently administered as a Special Geographic Area. By March 2020, these communities had been formally designated as part of that area. In 2023, the Bangsamoro Parliament approved legislation consolidating the Special Geographic Area barangays into eight municipalities. The measure establishing Old Kaabakan was Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 132. Alternative names considered during the legislative process included Northern Kabacan and Laya. The municipal creation was submitted to voters in a plebiscite on April 13, 2024. The proposal was approved by a large margin, with 6,611 votes in favor and four opposed. Old Kaabakan is politically divided into seven barangays, which are further organized into puroks and, in some cases, sitios. During its initial administrative period, the municipality operated under transitional arrangements. The Bangsamoro regional government committed ₱2.5 million in interim funding until the municipality could receive its share of the National Tax Allotment. Pending regular local elections and the eventual institutional arrangements for the area, officers-in-charge were appointed to fill municipal positions. Demat Kabembelan Pedtemanan served as officer-in-charge mayor from July 9, 2024, through June 30, 2025. Old Kaabakan is therefore best understood not as a commercial brand but as a local-government entity created through Bangsamoro territorial and administrative consolidation. Its governance remained associated with the Special Geographic Area while arrangements for a new province and regular municipal administration were being developed.

Old Kaabakan emerged from the reorganization of local communities in Cotabato following the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. In the second part of the plebiscite held on February 6, 2019, 63 barangays in Cotabato voted to join the new autonomous region. The municipalities from which those barangays came, as well as Cotabato province itself, remained part of Soccsksargen. This created an administrative arrangement in which the participating barangays were geographically separated from their mother municipalities for regional-governance purposes. By March 2020, the participating barangays were designated as the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area. The area was administered through transitional mechanisms while the Bangsamoro government considered how to organize the communities into more permanent local-government units. One result of that process was a legislative plan to consolidate the Special Geographic Area barangays into eight municipalities. On August 17, 2023, the Bangsamoro Parliament approved the bills establishing those municipalities. The legislation for Old Kaabakan was Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 132. During deliberations and proposal development, Northern Kabacan and Laya were among the alternative names considered. The approved name preserved a connection with the former Kabacan administrative area while distinguishing the new municipality from Kabacan itself. The creation of Old Kaabakan required approval through a local plebiscite. On April 13, 2024, voters considered the proposal and approved it by 6,611 votes to four. The new municipality was formed from seven barangays of Kabacan. It is politically subdivided into seven barangays, with barangay-level communities further divided into puroks and, in some instances, sitios. The municipality's early administration was transitional. The Bangsamoro Chief Minister appointed officers-in-charge to fill municipal positions pending regular elections scheduled for 2025. Demat Kabembelan Pedtemanan served as officer-in-charge mayor from July 9, 2024, to June 30, 2025. The regional government also committed ₱2.5 million in interim funding until Old Kaabakan could receive its allocation from the National Tax Allotment. During this period, the municipality remained under the jurisdiction of the Special Geographic Area while the creation of a new province and related governance arrangements were still pending. Old Kaabakan's history is consequently defined by territorial integration, autonomy implementation, and the conversion of formerly detached barangays into a municipality with its own local-government structure.

• 2024

  Plebiscite confirms municipal creation

  [1]Old Kaabakanen.wikipedia.org

  Voters approved Old Kaabakan's creation in the April 13 plebiscite by 6,611 votes in favor and four against.

• 2024

  Transitional municipal government begins

  [1]Old Kaabakanen.wikipedia.org

  Old Kaabakan entered its initial period of municipal administration with appointed officers-in-charge and interim regional funding.

• 2023

  Municipal creation legislation approved

  [1]Old Kaabakanen.wikipedia.org

  The Bangsamoro Parliament approved the legislation creating eight municipalities from Special Geographic Area barangays, including Old Kaabakan under Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 132.

• 2020

  Special Geographic Area designation

  [1]Old Kaabakanen.wikipedia.org

  The participating Cotabato barangays were designated as the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area.

• 2019

  Cotabato barangays join the Bangsamoro process

  [1]Old Kaabakanen.wikipedia.org

  In the second part of the February 6 plebiscite, 63 Cotabato barangays voted to become part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, while their mother municipalities and Cotabato province remained in Soccsksargen.

A newly constituted local-government municipality serving seven former Kabacan barangays within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao's Special Geographic Area.

• 2024

  Adoption of transitional municipal administrationStrategy

  Background

  The newly created municipality required an interim governing structure before regular elections and longer-term regional arrangements were in place.

  Action taken

  The Bangsamoro regional government appointed officers-in-charge to municipal positions and provided interim funding.

  Aftermath

  Demat Kabembelan Pedtemanan served as officer-in-charge mayor through June 30, 2025, while the municipality remained associated with the Special Geographic Area.

  Interim municipal funding. PHP 2.5 million (Transitional period after municipal creation)

  Source

• 2023

  Creation of Old Kaabakan as a new municipalityStrategy

  Background

  The Bangsamoro Parliament sought to convert Special Geographic Area barangays into municipalities with more defined local-government structures.

  Action taken

  It approved Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 132, creating Old Kaabakan from seven barangays formerly belonging to Kabacan.

  Aftermath

  The measure was submitted to voters and was approved in the April 13, 2024 plebiscite.

  Source

1. 1Old Kaabakanen.wikipedia.org