[3] In the later part of 1898, a group of natives fleeing from the municipality of Jabonga settled in a place recognized by the municipality of Cabadbaran as barrio Santiago, However, in 1924 the Aciga River swelled its banks, destroying all properties, crops and animals along it.

This forced the inhabitants of Santiago, Cabadbaran to transfer to barrio Jagupit.

In 1936, the same river wrought extensive damage which made the inhabitants decide to transfer at the foot of the hill, particularly at Sitio Paypay, which was inhabited by two groups of natives-the Manobo and the Mamanwa.

The construction of the national highway, which passes thru sitio Paypay, lured more people to settle in the place.

[6] According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of 275.61 square kilometres (106.41 sq mi) [7] constituting 10.09% of the 2,730.24-square-kilometre- (1,054.15 sq mi) total area of Agusan del Norte.