New Bataan

The municipality was founded on 18 June 1968, through Republic Act No. 4756.^[6]

The municipality was named in honor of then First Lady Luz Banzon Magsaysay, who helped approve the town site reservation—now Barangay Cabinuangan. Magsaysay held prominence in Bataan, which was also the home of the Tagalog settlers who moved to the area during the Commonwealth and post-World War II periods.

It was one of the worst-hit municipalities by Typhoon Pablo, which devastated it on 4 December 2012.^[7]

New Bataan has a total land area of 55,315 hectares (136,690 acres) ^[8] and is situated north and west of Davao Oriental province; south of Municipality of Compostela and west of Municipality of Maragusan. It is surrounded by mountain ranges, with over 50% of its territory being forest cover that has been the source of livelihood for some people living there. The barangays of New Bataan that are mostly covered with forest are Andap, Tandawan, Camanlangan, Manurigao. Manurigao is the most remote among the barangay because of the absence of a better road and transportation.

The municipality is also watered by various rivers. One of which is the Mayo River that flows from the mountain of Andap and empties into the Agusan River. The Batoto river is also one of the biggest, it flows from the western part of the area. The northwestern portion of the municipality forms part on the contiguous plain of Compostela valley.

It is about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from Compostela, 40 kilometres (25 mi) from the provincial capital Nabunturan, and 75 kilometres (47 mi) from Tagum.

In the 2024 census, the population of New Bataan was 50,212 people,^[15] with a density of 91 inhabitants per square kilometre or 240 inhabitants per square mile. ^[5]

• Birth rate (crude): 28.82 (2005)
• Death rate (crude): 4.12 (2005)

Poverty incidence of New Bataan

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^{[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]}

• Annual local income: P5,761,257.97 (2005)
• Internal revenue allotment: P52,636,316 (2005)

Major crops

• Coconut
• Rice
• Corn
• Banana
• Coffee/Cacao
• Abaca/Bamboo

Road network (within the LGU territory):

• National road: 35.75 kilometres (22.21 mi)
• Provincial road: 40.45 kilometres (25.13 mi)
• Municipal road: 102.50 kilometres (63.69 mi)

The town's festivals include Araw Celebration, held annually on 18 June; Founder's Day, held every 10 August; Sal’lupongan Festival, held every 13 June. Its patron saint is Saint Anthony of Padua.