104 places · 7 areas

Places of the Bangsamoro

Islands and white sand, lakes in the highlands, mosques, falls and the old forts and houses of the sultanates: what is there, how to get there, and what to know before you go.

Ervin Malicdem · CC BY-SA 4.0Photo by Ervin Malicdem, CC BY-SA 4.0. Open the source file.

Beaches 6

Islands 11

Mosques 10

Lakes 5

Falls 5

Mountains 7

Nature 21

Heritage 22

Museums 5

Cities 2

Markets 2

Memory 8

Every place is traced to the pages it came from, and the guide’s own entries are the travel workspace’s. Photos are from Wikimedia Commons or English Wikipedia under free licences, each credited on the photo. 7 areas: Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte and del Sur, Tawi-Tawi, Cotabato City and the Special Geographic Area.

Get involved

Public records get betterwhen people check them.

Spotted an error, or have a document worth adding? Every correction and every source makes the record stronger — and the official source is always right where we are wrong.

White headstones bearing the names of the 58 people killed stand on a slope at Sitio Masalay in Ampatuan.

Places · Memory

Ampatuan massacre memorial

Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur

Also known as Maguindanao massacre site, Sitio Masalay

Philippine News Agency (PNA GenSan photo) · Philippine government workPhoto by Philippine News Agency (PNA GenSan photo), Philippine government work. Open the source file.

Overview

The site in Sitio Masalay where 58 people, many of them journalists, were killed on 23 November 2009.

On the morning of 23 November 2009, 58 people on their way to file a certificate of candidacy for governor for Esmael Mangudadatu, then vice-mayor of Buluan, were stopped in Ampatuan, kidnapped and killed at Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman. The dead included Mangudadatu's wife and 2 sisters, lawyers, aides, passing motorists and journalists; Davao Today counts 32 journalists and Wikipedia at least 34. The Committee to Protect Journalists called it the single deadliest event for journalists since it began keeping records in 1992.

A memorial marker stands at the site with tombstones bearing the victims' names; Davao Today counted at least 38 tombstones in 2017. A separate monument was built nearby in remembrance of the victims.

Each year around 23 November, families and colleagues of the victims come to the site for a mass, light candles and lay flowers where the bodies were found.

Things to do

  1. 01Join the anniversary commemorationFamilies and colleagues hold a mass at the site around 23 November and light candles at the memorial.

Food to try

  • Banana-leaf parcels of pastil, one opened to show shredded meat over steamed rice.MaguindanaonPastilRice and shredded meat in a banana leaf — the region’s breakfast, and its icon.Photo: Obsidian Soul
  • A mound of yellow turmeric rice, the kiyoning or kuning of Moro tables, topped with chicken in palapa.MaguindanaonKiyoningTurmeric rice, yellow and fragrant, cooked in coconut milk.Photo: Obsidian Soul
  • Lacy discs of tinagtag, the fried rice-flour snack sold at Ramadhan stalls in Maguindanao del Sur.MaguindanaonTinagtagA lattice of fried rice-flour batter, crisp and sweet.Photo: Bangsamoro Information Office

The food is halal. Named eateries come from dated listings, so check they are still open.

Sourcesen.wikipedia.org ·davaotoday.com