Bunawan-Creation of the Municipality

Municipal District Mayor, when Bunawan was declared as Municipal District during the American regime. Followed by Eleuterio Lara, Primitivo Asis and Raymundo Cordova in that order until the local elections in 1959.

Historically Bunawan is very rich in mineral resources and home to a vast track of plain and arable lands with a bountiful marine lives in its marshland and well balance eco-system. This is the primary reason that then and now migrants coming in different places of the archipelago flocked to seek fortune in Bunawan.

From a Municipal District for almost two decades, Bunawan became a regular municipality on January 26, 1959 by virtue of Republic Act No. 2517 authored by Congressmen Daniel Romualdez. It comprised of the following barangays; Mambalili, Libertad, Basa, Tudela, San Isidro, Santa Maria, Trento, Cuevas and Salvacion. Bunawan Poblacion was declared as the seat of the Municipal Government. Few months after its creation into a regular municipality the local election was held and Mayor Zotico C. Moday was elected as the first Municipal Mayor of Bunawan, Agusan Province. In the 1967 election Mayor Zotico C. Moday ran for a third term against Mr. Raymundo M. Curato but lost. It was during the incumbency of Mayor Raymundo M. Curato that the municipal building in Bunawan Poblacion was gutted by fire. Living no room to house the operation of the municipal government. Consequently, the municipal council passed a resolution transferring the set of local government from Bunawan Poblacion to Dakotan, now known as San Teodoro, across Simulao River, where a block tienda building of the municipal government was then located. This was used as the temporary municipal building of the municipality of Bunawan.

In the election of 1972 Mayor Zotico C. Moday regained the position of the Municipal Mayor against Mayor Raymundo M. Curato who lost in the election. However, Mayor Zotico C. Moday lost to Mr. Leonardo A. Barrios in the mayoralty election in 1980. Mayor Leonardo A. Barrios served as Municipal Mayor of Bunawan for a period of six years until it was overtaken by the EDSA revolution in February 1986.