MUNICIPALITY OF TALIPAO

Generation-age legends and old folks’ historical narrations all point out to common fact that the Municipality of Talipao derived its name after the names of a married couple who lived in the area for so long a time. They were “TAL”, the husband, and “PAO” as the wife. Hence, the name of Talipao as it is now.

As a mere municipal district, the Municipality of Talipao was transformed into a full-pledged local government unit under the Department of Mindanao and Sulu Act on July 1^st 1957 and thus, becoming as one of the original fourteen (14) municipalities of the province of Sulu after four years ahead.

Before the disaster of February 7, 1974 brought about by the armed confrontation between the MNLF and the government troops at the height of the formers “Secessionist Movement”, Talipao was then under the able and dedicated leadership of its beloved mayor the late Honorable LINCOLN TULAWIE. It was during his time of leadership that the municipality enjoyed and felt what the government had for its beloved people. In terms of local governance and socio-economic infra-support facilities; the municipality enjoyed economic abundance and prosperity projects like waterworks system, increased volume of agri-products yield, and farm to market roads to were just but a few development markers of Mayor Tulawie’s Leadership. Farm products were transported to market outlets, and people lived in harmony and peacefully with each other.

When war broke up between the two (2) protagonists on that fateful 7^th day of February 1974, almost all areas fell and communities razed to the ground resulting to the failure of almost all local governments in Sulu to be non-performing and un-operational for quite some time. The municipality of Talipao, despite all odds, was able to combat all concerns and was successfully defended by the Tulawies’ to the last drop of their family’s blood, honor and prestige.

For Talipao, however, operations in the Municipal Government was re-established on the 14^th of February 1974 until the first local elections were the held on January 30, 1980. In this electoral process, a young man who is the very dynamic eldest son of the afore-named former Mayor, HON. BEHHAJAR TULAWIE was elected as Mayor of Talipao. It is at this point of time that the task for the rehabilitation, reconstruction and development of the Municipality concerned started as his committed primordial objective to his beloved people.

This commitment to make Talipao a much better place to live in came to a concrete reality when HON. TAMBRIN J. TULAWIE, another son of the legendary Mayor LINCOLN TULAWIE, rose to become the New Mayor of Talipao for three (3) terms and was followed by a respectable person of an able, young, energetic, dynamic and development-oriented woman HON. SITTI RAYA T. TULAWIE.

Worthy to note also as a special feature for local politics in the area was the proven fact of family-to-family leadership’s succession where the town’s Chief Executives’ names had never changed from the same surname, Mayor Tulawie, as that of before, the previous past and present. This scenario is understandable, of course, because the area is the “TURF” of the “TULAWIE CLAN” and has been maintained and preserved to be such up to this writing - with still same family name. Mayor Tulawie as Talipao’s the Neophyte Chief Executive –though this time around-in the very youthful and development aggressive-young man.

The Honorable NIVOCADNEZAR I. TULAWIE, in whose utmost interest to continue what his mother, former Mayor HON. SITTI RAYA T. TULAWIE, had promised to their constituents to make Talipao rise above along with other progressive towns in the country.

The Municipality of Talipao bears the same temperature with that of the Province of Sulu in general. Ever since, Talipao has not been hit or recorded to have experienced any typhoon as it is protected by numerous hills and mountain that proliferate the area in numbers. As to its wind directional character, the winds are generally lightly blowing type moving towards the southern direction path. The annual average prevailing wind is 3 knots southeast.

Based on the advanced notes obtained from the defunct Bureau of Mines, the Municipality of Talipao is believed to have been endowed with ample Mineral deposit such as Manganese and Coppers. The Municipality of Talipao is belonging to 1^ST District of Sulu having income class rating of 1^ST CLASS with household data of 11,938. Its technological advancement rears its initial presence; thus, providing opportunities.