Malita

Malita, officially the Municipality of Malita, is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Davao Occidental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 118,197 people. Malita is known for various cultural arts and heritage of its people and tribes. Gaginaway Festival is celebrated annually every full moon on the month of November and Araw ng Malita is also celebrated annually on November 17. Etymology According to folk etymology, the name "Malita" is derived from the Spanish word "maleta" which means suitcase. It is said that purportedly Don Mariano Peralta, a retired veteran of the Spanish–American War who ventured to the place, decided to live on the vast, fertile plain across the river. One day while bodily fording the deep and swift river with his suitcase and other belongings in hand, the force of the current overwhelmed his perilous balance and got swept by the water consequently losing his grip on the suitcase. His frantic shouts of "maleta, maleta" attracted the attention of the bathing natives who after realizing the situation promptly responded and retrieved the vanishing to settle as Malita. How it came to its present spelling and usage maybe attributed to the natives’ prevalent use of suitcase. Hardly forgetting the shouts of Peralta, the natives later thought the word referred to the land he intended long 'e' sound for the vowels 'i' and 'e'. History Malita is the oldest community in the province. Malita's existence dates back scores of years before its formal creation as municipality on November 17, 1936. Records show that Malita must have existed long before the passage of the Philippine Commission Act, the Laws of the Moro Province that mentioned Malita in Section 1 of Act No. 164 dated December 10, 1904. Through the said Act it is presumed that it existed as a barrio of Santa Cruz long before the coming of the Americans to Davao. Executive Order No. 64 issued by President Manuel L. Quezon officially created Malita into a municipality. Marcelino Maruya, from whom the town of Don Marcelino was named after, was the first appointed municipal mayor.