Lambayong, officially the Municipality of Lambayong (Ilocano: Ili ti Lambayong;, Jawi: ايڠد نولمبايوڠ; ), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Sultan Kudarat, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 79,739 people.

Etymology

Lambayong is named after the lambayong (Ipomoea pes-caprae), the flower-bearing creeper that grows in profusion on wet lands with which the town has plenty. The purplish cup-like petals are a sight to behold from a distance as they undulate with the dark waxy-textured green leaves when blown by the wind. The word Lambayong/Lambayung in Maguindanaon means purple.

History

Area presently under the jurisdiction of Lambayong was transferred from the Province of Cotabato to the Province of Sultan Kudarat on November 22, 1973, by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 341 of President Ferdinand Marcos. It was established as a new municipality named Mariano Marcos in honor of the President's father. On October 12, 1988, President Corazon Aquino signed Republic Act No. 6676, renaming the municipality to its current name.

Geography

Barangays

Lambayong is politically subdivided into 26 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.

Climate

Demographics

Unlike the rest of Sultan Kudarat, Ilocano-speaking residents form the majority of Lambayong, with majority of them can speak and understand fluent Hiligaynon, Tagalog and to the some extent, Cebuano and Maguindanaon, in addition to their own native language. They descended from Ilocanos from northern Luzon who settled in the area since the early 1900s, with the additional influx of these migrants who also settled after World War II. Hiligaynon-speakers are also residents in the municipality, with many of them can also speak and understand Ilocano, Karay-a, Cebuano and Maguindanaon, since Lambayong—like the rest of Sultan Kudarat as well as Soccsksargen and the rest of Mindanao as a whole—is a melting pot of languages, culture and tradition. Other ethnolinguistic groups in the municipality are Maguindanaons, Cebuanos, Blaans and Manobos.

Economy