A Love Letter to South Cotabato

Dear South Cotabato,


I was one of those who were fortunate enough to get the chance to visit you and to lay eyes on your beauty.

Having a sheer number of tourists, possibly a result of being the land of Philippine's Pride, Manny Pacquiao, of course, you may not remember me. But I was there in January 2012 with 6 friends, thanks to Cebu Pacific's piso fare.

I came unprepared and without any knowledge of what you have to offer. Forgive me for being narrow-minded but I admit, all I knew was you had a lot of tuna and that Manny Pacquiao and Mommy Dionisia lived there hehe.

From the airport, our group traveled all the way to Lake Sebu, we got there late in the afternoon and decided to stay in Punta Isla Lake Resort to be closer to your enchanting lake.

I was intrigued why there were photos and statues of Tilapia all over the resort. Setting my thoughts aside, our group decided to try out your delicacies. They said tilapia was your specialty dish in Lake Sebu and to our surprise, almost all of the food in your menu was made from Tilapia! From Fried Tilapia, to Grilled Tilapia, to Chicharong Tilapia! You're certainly humurous, we couldn't stop laughing about it until our orders arrived.

Even came in tilapia-shaped dishes

Inihaw na Tilapia

Chicharong Tilapia

Kilawing Tilapia

You were able to creatively transform your specialty fish into different dishes. Good job, we were impressed.

Cards, alcohol, videoke, & tilapia kept us company that night and we enjoyed every minute of it. Even if one of your soldiers made us stop because you had a 10:00 PM curfew.

You provided us a good sleep that night. Your cool weather blended well with your peaceful surroundings and cradled us to sleep. Even the intimidating bullfrogs (which were all over the resort) weren't able to interrupt our deep slumber.

The next morning was perfect. You gave us perfect weather and made it easy for us to ride a habal-habal as early as 4:00 AM to chase the sunrise.

And we enjoyed every minute of this adventure even if your habal-habal drivers misunderstood us and brought us to Sunrise Resort instead hehe. But your charisma didn't fail us. You have successfully charmed us with your wide greenery and clear bodies of water -- and this is just Day 2.

One of my favorite photos

Photo by Dinno Sandoval

But this was just the beginning of Day 2. Shortly after walking around rice fields and getting stuck in the mud, you gave us an ultimate experience -- a thrilling adventure that we'll never ever forget.

You gave us a chance to see your famous falls in Lake Sebu. The first one was your biggest one and it was the most enormous waterfall I've seen in my life!

Its power and height stunned me; it was inviting although I wasn't brave enough to go near it; scared that the force of the water would crush me.

But it wasn't over yet -- you knew we still had to see your other waterfalls, 7 to be exact. And you knew the perfect way how.

By making us fly.

Flying over Lake Sebu's waterfalls was indeed an unforgettable experience! See it here through the eyes of Macky and Pau:

For a few seconds, you took away my fear of heights and replaced it with allurement and fascination over everything we saw underneath. What made your zipline different from others is that we saw waterfalls instead of just the usual treetops and mountains.

You believed in me even if I didn't trust myself. And I thank you for pushing me to do this.

And you didn't think this was enough, you even gave us more. You made us experience the coldest river I dipped in. Guess we should have believed you when you described it as Ice Cold River. We couldn't keep ourselves submerged even only for a good 5 minutes -- it was simply too cold.

Our friends, Dana and Dinno

Our 2nd night was again spent in front of the videoke as we emptied out all the Emperador bottles in Punta Isla's stockroom.

We woke up the next morning with half a heavy heart because we were leaving Lake Sebu. But only half because you are giving us another opportunity to see a different side of you.

After a scrumptious breakfast and not to mention, the most delicious coffee I've ever tasted, Tivoli Coffee, we bid Lake Sebu goodbye.

Because Mindanao offers so many splendid places, our group had to split into two. Dana, Dinno, & Mike were en route to Davao City to meet a friend there and try their luck in shooting Samal Island. While Marv, Pao, Macky, & I were off to visit another side of you in Sarangani.

And even if you already offered us a magical experience in Lake Sebu, you still had so much more to offer. From Lake Sebu, we went straight to Gumasa Beach in Glan, Sarangani and this is what we saw...

At first, I was furious. I was angry because I didn't research much about you and I could have learned about Gumasa Beach earlier. I was mad because all I knew about you was everything related to Manny Pacquiao and tuna and yet, this beach, with almost sparkling white sand, stood before me.

I was also full of envy. I was envious of those who were able to touch you months and even years before I did. I was jealous of those who lived nearby and could touch, kiss, and feel you anytime they want.

You call this part of you "The Small Boracay of Mindanao". Your powdery white sand is comparable with some beaches in North Luzon although your water is not as clear as Boracay but still nice to swim in. But one of your advantage over Boracay is that Gumasa Beach isn't as crowded as the former. And we had you for ourselves!

Photo by Paula Lim

I gave you two thumbs up for the beauty of the beach but your sunset made me wish I had another thumb to put up...

We were quite afraid because you were so peaceful and quiet; we didn't know what to expect. When nighttime came, we camped out near the shore. We started a bonfire and cooked sausages over the fire.

You allowed us to experience a perfect night enjoying the cool breeze in Lake Sebu as well as a fun night camping at the beach and listening to your relaxing waves.

You taught me how to trust and not to believe everything I hear on TV. You made me realize that there was more to South Cotabato than just the Pacquiao family and tuna. You made me think out of the box and forget all the stereotypes about provinces in Mindanao.

Sharing with you a quote I read that describes how I feel about South Cotabato:

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” --Mark Twain

But the most important thing you've brought me is...

...GENUINE FRIENDSHIP.

You gave me something that other provinces in the Philippines could not provide. You offered me a chance to know these people a little bit more and make them some of the best persons in my life...

Thank you, South Cotabato, until we meet again!

Nahigugma ako kanimo!