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.

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Places · Nature

Kumalarang River

Lantawan, Basilan

Also known as Baunuh Peggesan

Overview

Basilan's westward-flowing river, with waterfalls and a stone said to mark a French landing of the 1840s.

The Kumalarang River flows west through the western half of Basilan and is also called Baunuh Peggesan; Kumalarang was also one of the old names given to the whole island. Chinese texts of the Ming dynasty mention a Kingdom of Kumalarang, believed to have been on the island's north-western shore. The Basilan provincial article on Wikipedia lists the waterfalls of the Kumalarang River among the island's natural attractions.

French archives show that the French navy spent 6 months surveying Basilan in 1844 and 1845, and that France tried and failed to acquire the island. The archives say the French etched a landmark into stone on the banks of the Kumalarang River in Lantawan, and in 2026 the Bangsamoro heritage commission in Basilan led a mission to find the landing site.

Food to try

  • A bowl of near-black beef soup beside a red onion and dried chillies.TausugTiyula ItumBlack beef soup, colored by burnt coconut.Photo: Nurfadzrie Abubakar
  • Tausug satti: grilled meat skewers with a bowl of spiced sauce and ta'mu rice cake in woven coconut leaf.TausugSattiSkewered meat in a hot red sauce, with a block of rice — the breakfast of the archipelago.Photo: Anak 1 at en.wikipedia
  • TausugKulmaA mild peanut-and-coconut curry, close to a korma.
  • TausugPianggangGrilled chicken in burnt-coconut sauce.

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

Places to stay

Phone, Facebook, or the city tourism office. Very little is listed online.

Each is named in an official or dated source; none could be checked against an accreditation list. No prices: rates change quickly, so confirm and book directly before you go.

Sourcesen.wikipedia.org ·bangsamoro.gov.ph ·en.wikivoyage.org ·transitpinas.com