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MARGINALIA: Mt. Kabalukan: Past, present, and beyond 2022 presidential race

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MAKATI CITY (MindaNews / 31 March) While writing the last chapter (“The Twin Dancing Tanks of Zapakan”) of the recently published ‘MBAYUKA TANU! MAGUINDANAON BAYUK TRANSCRIPTION, TRANSLATION, AND ANNOTATION (ElziStyle Bookshop, 2022, https://amzn.to/3uJMjLH), one thing that particularly excited my curiosity is a mountain.

Yes, a mountain.

It was indeed one emotionally charged experience while translating a bayuk song. Enchanting and enthralling at the same time, I must confess. The song thus begins: “I shall begin narrating the story during the Revolution in Padian sa Dilampung at the rocks’ intersection in Mount Kabalukan.”

Yes, it’s Mt. Kabalukan.

Are you familiar with it? Do you know where it is located?

Admittedly, “Palaw sa Kabalukan” as Mt. Kabalukan is called in Maguindanaon, is unknown to those outside the place and also relatively unknown to many Maguindanaons – the young ones in particular. 

Mt. Kabalukan is a mountain range that horizontally stretches from northwest to southeast – from “Tuka na Nabalawag” (the Meander of Nabalawag, Midsayap Municipality) to the eastern part of Datu Piang Municipality, along the Bakat Creek of Datu Salibo Municipality, many barangays of Rajah Buayan Municipality, and down to northwestern edge of Sultan sa Barongis Municipality. 

(The meander of the Tamontaka River which is the current boundary between Datu Piang and Barangay Nabalawag, Midsayap Municipality is called “Tuka na Nabalawag” due to its bird’s beak shape. “Tuka” is the Maguindanaon word for “beak”.)

On the northern side of Mt. Kabalukan lies the Tamontaka River, which originates from the adjacent Ligawasan Marsh, and which serves as the natural boundary between Maguindanao and (North) Cotabato provinces. While the whole mountain range is part of Maguindanao Province, the other bank of the Tamontaka River forms parts of Midsayap and Pikit municipalities in (North) Cotabato Province. On its southern side lies another body of water, the Bakat Creek (locally called “Lawas-a Bakat”) which drains water from Mt. Kabalukan’s cave catch basin called “Labuan-a Samal” in Barangay Masulot, Sultan sa Barongis municipality.

Distant Past

In the past, it is sufficient to say that Mt. Kabalukan as well as its surrounding lowlands is the cradle of Buayan sultanate and rulers, and a sanctuary of epic resistance since Spanish colonialism.

Also known as Sultan Anwarud-din Utto or Sultan Utto Anwaruddin, the 18th Sultan of Buayan, Datu Utto (reign: 1875-1888) distinguished himself as a military leader in many battles against the Spaniards and ruled Buayan (whose domain extended up to Sarangani Bay) from the inland town of Zapakan, which is just a few miles away from Mt. Kabalukan.

In its desperate attempt to take full control of the Buayan territories, the Spanish colonial authority put up the Reina Regente Fort in February 1896 just a few miles away from Mt. Kabalukan in what is now known as Rajah Buayan municipality.

Mt. Kabalukan is also the resting place of politically and religiously notable personalities. The bayuk song, for instance, made mention of ‘tampat’ (shrine) which is the Maguindanaon term for the tomb or grave (l’b’ng) of a political and/or spiritual figure.

During the American occupation at the turn of the 20th century, another brave son of the majestic highland, al-shahid Datu Ali of Salunayan, stood his ground until his attainment of martyrdom in the hands of the new occupiers. 

Contemporary History

During the Japanese invasion of the country during the Second World War, Gen. Salipada Pendatun and other gallant sons of Kabalukan heroically fought against the invaders and exemplified their regional and/or national leadership afterward.

Needless to say, during the martial law in the 1970s, the bayuk song itself immortalizes the valiant resistance of Kagi Nuk and his men:

“I shall begin narrating the story during the Revolution in Padian sa Dilampung at the rocks’ intersection in Mount Kabalukan.

“So, when the soldiers of Marcos arrived in Maguindanao, usurping, and marauding the land, all the young [fighters] at the rocks’ intersection had a pitiful and deplorable condition.

“To start with, alas, when the soldiers of Marcos occupied the interior of Zapakan, they had twin tanks which were iron-wheeled, steel-walled, and backed up by machineguns.

“So, after a short while, the civilians of Zapakan told Chief Kagi Nuk, ‘Be on alert! Be ready all of you, as the entire Zapakan is occupied by the soldiers of Marcos who are threatening to trample on their feet the rocks’ intersection (in Mount Kabalukan) in order to wreak havoc, there.’”

It is interesting to note that even the founding chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Shaykh Salamat Hashim, is genealogically connected to the ruling families of the Kabalukan area.

Even today, the lowlands of Kabalukan – known in the Philippine military parlance as the SPMS (Shariff Aguak, Pagatin, Mamasapano, and Datu Salibo) Box – have still traces of defiance against the national government and skepticism toward the current peace process.

Beyond 2022 Presidential Race 

In addition to its historical and political importance, Mt. Kabalukan, with all its legends and anecdotes as well as historic spots and culturally significant natural resources, is also a rich cultural heritage site. 

The limestone caves at the rugged awe-inspiring mountain along with its adjacent picturesque marshland are full of eco-tourism potentials. As a pre-school kid in the mid-1970s, I would laugh at our relative from Lambayong (which was then part of Sultan sa Barongis municipality) who would proudly narrate about personally witnessing or experiencing “tut-a lupa” (literally “the earth’s fart” in Maguindanaon language) while in Kabalukan. Natural gas, he must be referring to, as I realized later.

As the presidential race is about to culminate in May, Kabalukan is a silent, yet vigilant, watchtower. Will this national exercise eventually bring to the Palace the sitting lady successor, or catapult into power the son of the dictator who brought nightmare to the people as depicted in Bapa Tangkli Benito’s “Tudtulan sa Kinambakwit” (Story of Internal Displacement and Evacuation)? 

For now, in its constant campaign to be on the right side of history, Kabalukan untiringly uses the expressive tongue of “Nahj al-Balaghah” (Peak of Eloquence) and the prolific pen that inscribed the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and the Moral Governance Epistle to Governor Malik al-Ashtar.

When called for, the gallant sons of Kabalukan will never hesitate to unsheathe once again their Kampilan, which is the local version of Dhu’l-Faqar. It is the same Kampilan used by Datu Mangubal, who was another son of Kabalukan, to put an end to the Spanish colonial adventurism embodied by Capt. Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa in 1596.  

[MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Mansoor L. Limba, PhD in International Relations, is a writer, university professor, blogger, chess trainer, and translator (from Persian into English and Filipino) with tens of written and translation works to his credit on such subjects as international politics, history, political philosophy, intra-faith and interfaith relations, cultural heritage, Islamic finance, jurisprudence (fiqh), theology (‘ilm al-kalam), Qur’anic sciences and exegesis (tafsir)hadith, ethics, and mysticism. He can be reached at mlimba@diplomats.com, or http://www.mlimba.com and http://www.muslimandmoney.com, and his books can be purchased at www.elzistyle.com and www.amazon.com/author/mansoorlimba.]

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