Today, we traveled from Midsayap, Cotabato to Polomolok, South Cotabato by road. Our stops included the Pikit, Cotabato; Isulan and Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat; and Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. Don't Pikit and Tacurong sound familiar? Let's just say we kept our fingers crossed.
In Pikit, we stopped over at the municipal hall which was built on top of a hill. A few meters behind the municipal hall are the ruins of the old Fort Pikit built during the Spanish colonial period. We got to meet the mayor who was meeting with his security. They were kind enough to tell us how to get to the old fort which was inside a military camp.
Our next stop was the Sultan Kudarat capitol building in Isulan. Since it was a Saturday, it was empty. In front of the capitol was a statue of Sultan Dipatuan Kudarat after whom the province is named. I really hate it when government officials try to perpetuate their names on the edifices the build. I found it tasteless that under the embossed words "Provincial Capitol of Sultan Kudarat," they had to add "constructed under the administration of governor blah blah blah and congressman blah blah blah" also embossed. The elegance of our government buildings are diminished by the unnecessary self-promotion.Anyway, we got ourselves a snack in Tacurong City (yes, they have a Jollibee there). But we didn't eat much since we were saving space for our really late lunch in Lake Sebu.
I had been looking forward to this weekend for months. I went to Mindanao with brods Ryan and Allen, and our friend Ching. The tickets were booked way back April (yes, it's the P1 fare promo). We took a flight to Cotabato City (the airport is in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Shariff Kabunsuan) where the van of Ching's cousin picked us up.
We visited Small World in the same town. Aside from the zoo, everything else was closed since the park is fully-open only on Sundays. The Lourdes Grotto is also there but since the priests who own the place make it such a hassle to visit (you have to get a permit and leave your driver's license and all), we decided to move to our next stop, the Tamontaka Church, a national historical landmark.
I had expected to see an old church. But it was totally new. The older church was destroyed by a fire several years back. It was declared a national historical landmark just in 2004, long after the new and current church was built which thus came as a surprise to me since I know that the NHI requires a certain percentage of authenticity before declaring structures.
Anyway, we passed by the new Cotabato City Hall before proceeding to Mang Gorio for a late lunch. We ordered barbeque chicken and buko halo-halo. We also dropped by the Kuta Wato Caves but that was a big disappointment. It was so dirty, and you had informal settlers residing above the caves. I could just imagine where all their human waste goes. The city government should take out that tourism sign outside because it is no longer an attraction. It's such a pity since the natural pool inside the cave would have made it such an enchanting place.
From there, we proceeded to the old city hall and town plaza. Our plan was to drop by the tourism office but it turns out, government offices close early on Fridays in this part of the country. Friday, is a day of prayer for Muslims and I was told it had been practice here that after services, employees don't go back to the office anymore. Oh well!
The local government should encourage the rehabilitation of the early post-war commercial buildings in the town proper. These structures give the city a lot of character.
We also took pictures by the Rio Grande de Mindanao and its tributaries before driving to Midsayap, (North) Cotabato where we stayed for the night. I can't remember how long the drive was because I dozed off at times. The view of the Mindanao countryside was a refreshing sight. Anyway, More photos in Multiply.
Today, we traveled from Midsayap, Cotabato to Polomolok, South Cotabato by road. Our stops included the Pikit, Cotabato; Isulan and Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat; and Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. Don't Pikit and Tacurong sound familiar? Let's just say we kept our fingers crossed.
In Pikit, we stopped over at the municipal hall which was built on top of a hill. A few meters behind the municipal hall are the ruins of the old Fort Pikit built during the Spanish colonial period. We got to meet the mayor who was meeting with his security. They were kind enough to tell us how to get to the old fort which was inside a military camp.
Our next stop was the Sultan Kudarat capitol building in Isulan. Since it was a Saturday, it was empty. In front of the capitol was a statue of Sultan Dipatuan Kudarat after whom the province is named. I really hate it when government officials try to perpetuate their names on the edifices the build. I found it tasteless that under the embossed words "Provincial Capitol of Sultan Kudarat," they had to add "constructed under the administration of governor blah blah blah and congressman blah blah blah" also embossed. The elegance of our government buildings are diminished by the unnecessary self-promotion.
