BEAUTY BEHIND COLD WARS [PART I]

LIFE-CHANGING JOURNEY IN MAGUINDANAO

The Fascination

Maguindanao is very diverse destination; from the people to its natural landscape, their traditions and cultures to the foods and famous delicacies. Religion and beliefs are highly differentiated and it is dominated with dynamic political system.

As much as I want to elaborate in details Maguindano’s systems, I would like to tell a story about the fascinating things which captured my heart and the experiences which I will forever treasure in Maguindanao

First, Invasion of Coconut Trees

There are thousands of green leafy coconuts trees growing in Maguindanao. They are very tall and very slim. These trees according to the residents are ideally could survive nearby the coastal or salt water areas.  

Coconut trees are one of the sources of the livelihood of the people in Maguindanao. In every corner of Maguindanao, you can always see a coconut trees.

In fact, you can’t even count them in your fingers. If there is one plant that the people in Mguindanao would really value, I think that would be the coconut trees.

Goats, Chicken and Ducks

These animals are very common in Maguindanao. In the streets, you can see them. But what makes me very fascinated by these animals is that they are not afraid by any type of motor vehicles.

Unlike any animals that I have seen throughout my entire life, these animals go to the center of the streets and laid there as if there are no vehicles that will come. The funny thing is that the drivers of the vehicles are the one who are afraid to hit those animals and not the other way around.

According to residents that I have asked, if the driver will hit any animal, the driver will pay for damages. If the animal is pregnant, the driver will also pay for the babies excluding the agony of the mother animal in case it lost her kids.

Seems very funny but it’s really true. I myself had experienced that funny thing.

One time, our company driver had to stop just not to hit those animals because he is very afraid that he will pay for the owner of the animal if he hit it.

Hundreds of tarpaulins posted and hanged along the streets and homes.

If you travel in Maguindanao, you will see these tarps and banners of the people who have passed in the licensure exams, or a teacher was promoted to be a principal, or a new policeman passed the exams, or even a new politician was announced as the new assemblyman or a mayor.

They are like confetti in a Christmas trees or like a “banderitas” hanged during fiestas. Anywhere, you can always see names and faces in the tarps. People are making banners and tarps even for the smallest achievement of their family member.

I think they valued pride, achievements, honors and recognition; maybe because not all people in there are able to go to college and earn their degrees or maybe because of financial constraints on the part of the parents to send their children to college.

The father is a farmer and the mother is a vendor or a farmer too. Their income from the harvest is scarcely enough for their meals in a day.

There is nothing in excess to sustain the education of their children to send them to college. I feel that those parents who were not able to send their kids to college were very frustrated because they want to send them to college but there is no enough money.

I have seen the hardships of the people in there just to survive.

Lastly, People’s Lifestyle

People in Maguindanao are composed of Christians, Lumads, but majority of them are Muslims. There are rich and poor. There are illiterate and professionals. But how do an ordinary people live in a place where long-history of conflicts is still evident?

Majority of the people in Maguindanao are farmers. They are planting coconut trees, corns, cassava, and other root crops. Majority of them are engaged in the buy and sell of “copra” (from the coconut trees which are very abundant.). There are also vendors selling vegetables and rootcrops along the streets.  

Because Maguindanao is a coastal area, the people are also engaged in fishing. They are using boats and fishing nets.  They are selling the fishes and other marine products in the market. The people if not all are very hardworking.

But one thing that I have observed from the people in Maguindanao is that they have this concept of living together as one community. It’s like they are living in a clan where in one community, the people in there are all relatives or blood related. They have this very strong tie.

Read the second part:

THE HIDDEN PARADISE,

LIFE-CHANGING JOURNEY IN MAGUINDANAO [PART II] READ HERE

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