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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Soldiers running on the drive in front of the pink-roofed old provincial capitol in Shariff Aguak

Places · Heritage

Old Maguindanao Provincial Capitol

Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur

Also known as Maguindanao Provincial Capitol (Shariff Aguak)

601st Infantry Brigade, Philippine Army · Public domainPhoto by 601st Infantry Brigade, Philippine Army, Public domain. Open the source file.

Overview

The P218-million capitol the Ampatuans built in Shariff Aguak, about 400 m from their mansions.

Shariff Aguak was the first capital of Maguindanao, but the capitol moved to Sultan Kudarat after the 1986 People Power Revolution. Andal Ampatuan Sr., elected governor in 2001, brought the offices back to Shariff Aguak and then built a larger, 3-storey capitol, occupied before the 2007 election and inaugurated in March 2009 in the presence of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. It cost P218 million, P50 million of it from her social funds, and stands about 400 m from the mansions of the Ampatuan clan; the governor's wing even has a jacuzzi.

After the Maguindanao massacre of November 2009 the building was used as a warehouse. Governor Esmael Mangudadatu, elected in 2010, governed from his hometown of Buluan instead; his successor Mariam Mangudadatu moved back in 2019, and in July 2020 it served as a COVID-19 isolation facility. When Maguindanao was split in 2022, Buluan became the capital of Maguindanao del Sur.

A photograph released by the Philippine Army's 601st Infantry Brigade describes the old capitol as now housing one of the army's infantry brigades.

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 ·commons.wikimedia.org