Tubay, officially the Municipality of Tubay (; ), is a municipality in the province of Agusan del Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 25,785 people.
It was created from the barrios of Tubay, La Fraternidad, Tinigbasan, Cabayawa, Victory, Santa Ana, and Tagmamarcay of the municipality of Cabadbaran in 1947, through Republic Act No. 188.
The town of Tubay is named after its legendary founder Datu Tabay, and lays claim to being the second Spanish Settlement in Agusan and was known as a pueblo as early as 1751. Formerly, the people settled in the wilderness of Ilihan, then transferred to sitio Malabog and later to Tubay-Tubay and Sabang near the mouth of the Jabonga River. However, the danger of constant inundation and Moro attacks convinced the succeeding leader of the place to move the pueblo to Daang Lungsod where the massive magkuno post of once spacious and strongly built church now stand. It was here where the settlement firmly took place.
By 1898, Tubay had developed into a prosperous town. However, following American occupation, officials determined that neighboring Cabadbaran was more suitable as the seat of government. As a result, in 1903, Tubay was reduced to the status of a barrio in favor of Cabadbaran. Despite this change, Tubay remained an active commercial center, largely due to the presence of Chinese merchants. Economic activity continued into the 1920s, when the navigable Jabonga River served as the main route for the transport of copra and hemp. However, the completion of the TubayâÂÂSantiagoâÂÂCabadbaran road led to a decline in river-based trade, causing a gradual downturn in TubayâÂÂs commercial prominence.
On June 22, 1947, Tubay officially became a municipality when the Congress of the Philippines enacted Republic Act No. 188 which separated the barrios of Tubay, La Fraternidad, Tinigbasan, Cabayawa, Victory, Santa Ana, and Tagmamarcay, all from Cabadbaran, and constituted into the newly created town. By virtue of said law, President Manuel Roxas issued Presidential Proclamation No. 44 on October 20, 1947, thus making Tubay regain its township status.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of constituting of the total area of Agusan del Norte.
Tubay is politically subdivided into 13 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.
In the 2020 census, Tubay had a population of 25,785. The population density was .