Act No. 5643. The newest municipality is San Jose, created on November 15, 1989, under Republic Act No. 6769. The town was named in honor of Jose Ecleo who was its pioneer and father of then mayor of the municipality of Dinagat, Ruben Edera Ecleo Sr. The town is the seat of the PBMA. The Dinagat Islands was part of the First District of Surigao del Norte Province until it became a province on December 2, 2006, with the approval of Republic Act No. 9355 (authored by Rep. Glenda B. Ecleo), the Charter of the Province of the Dinagat Islands, in a plebiscite. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appointed the province's first set of officials on January 26, 2007. Provincial officials were first elected a few months later, in the May 14, 2007 elections; these elected officials took office on July 1, 2007. On February 11, 2010, the Supreme Court of the Philippines declared the creation of the Dinagat Islands Province null and void on grounds of failure to meet land area and population requirements for the creation of local government units. The decision was not yet rendered final and executory before the May 10, 2010 elections; therefore the Commission on Elections still organized the elections for the province's separate congressional representative and provincial officials. Although the original decision was made final and executory on May 18, 2010—thereby reverting the Dinagat Islands to Surigao del Norte—the officials elected in 2010 continued to serve the province, even throughout the legal battles that followed, which eventually saw the Supreme Court reverse its position. On April 12, 2011, the Supreme Court reversed its earlier ruling, upholding the constitutionality of Republic Act No. 9355 and validating the creation of Dinagat Islands as a province. An Entry of Judgment on October 24, 2012, ended the legal battles surrounding the status of the province, and finalized the separation of Dinagat Islands from Surigao del Norte. Geography The province is one of the smallest island provinces in the country with a total land area of . Located to the northeast of Surigao del Norte, the Dinagat Islands are separated physically from Awasan and Nonoc Islands of Surigao del Norte by the narrow, long, Gaboc Channel. It takes about 45 minutes to cross Surigao City Port to San Jose Port by pump boat. The province consists of the eponymous Dinagat Island and surrounding islands and islets, including Cabilan Island