Its history is generally reckoned with the influx of settlers coming from their abilities under the settlements Programs of NLSA; RPC-NDC; NARRA and LASEDECO.

Surallah started as 6th Class Municipality with 26 barrios and a population of 26,162 settling in a vast land area of 97,000 hectares.

Lately, the booming tourism industry in the south made to be the primary factor of the birth of the new Municipality of Lake Sebu in 1982, causing the reduction of the total land area and population of Surallah from 31,200 to 31,110 hectares and from 52,703 to 42,467 respectively.

The election in January 1988 gave back the local leadership to former Assemblyman Jose T. Sison as Municipal Mayor of Surallah who served for three terms until May 1998.

The new leadership brought necessary changes in the administration more specific on a gradual shift from traditional type to a more conventional way of governance by re-inventing new techniques thru dynamic participative approaches.

The origin inhabitants of the area are the tagabilis, a mountain tribe people who moved inward after the arrival of the Christian settlers from Luzon and Visayas.

As economic activities flourished in the area, more people especially businessmen settled into the place which contributed much to faster pace of development.

Aside from these, the improvement of the social services, the conservation of the natural resources and protection of the environment are also priority development objectives of this fast growing municipality presently serving as the economic center of the Allah Valley Area.

Poverty Incidence of Surallah Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] As economic activities flourished in the area, more people especially businessmen settled into the place, which contributed to a faster pace of development.

It is the Economical Center of the Upper Valley Area, which is composed of all the municipalities of Tboli, Lake Sebu, Banga, Norala, Santo Nino and Surallah.