Brief History About Santa Cruz

More than a century-old municipality, Sta. Cruz was legally created on October 5, 1884, and it is the third oldest town in Mindanao. The gulf was originally called “Labo” meaning marshland. The Bagobo- Tagabawa tribe ruled by Datu Ali were the early settlers in the area.

According to pioneers, Sta. Cruz originated its name way back 1880 when Spaniards planted a big cross under a shelter upon their failure to Christianize the settlers who continued to resist them. Another group of migrants settled adjacent to the cross which was near the municipal building site, the place came to be known as a “SA CROSS” which means at the cross.