If I were to name the top three Mindanao cities I love to
visit every now and then, General Santos City would be one of them. Hailed as
one of the country’s fastest growing cities and one of the island’s most
progressive regional capitals, GenSan, as it is popularly called, never fails
to amaze me.
I’m head over heels with it so whenever there’s a chance
to go there, I’d scurry to get away to GenSan. The city has enclaves of solace
and serenity whenever I want to escape urban din and drudgery. It has all the
trappings of a modern-day metropolis yet has retained much of its rustic charm.
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| The highlands of Sarangani |
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| GenSan City Hall |
Here’s a boom town that’s a veritable melting pot of
contradictions—urban and rural, cosmopolitan yet countrified, leisurely for the
most part but lethargic at times. It’s an intriguing conundrum where you can
find calm and chaos thriving within the same sociocultural and political
milieu.
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| Mt. Matutum as seen in GenSan |
Regarded as one of Mindanao’s highly urbanized cities,
GenSan serves as the regional center for trade and industry of SOCCSKSARGEN.
Known as the new Region XII, SOCCSKSARGEN is a conglomeration of South Cotabato, Cotabato
City, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and, of course, General Santos City.
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| Statue of General Paulino Santos |
SOCCSKSARGEN came into being after the Autonomous Region
in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was established, which led to the reconstitution of
what used to be the old Region XII or Central Mindanao. Consequently, the
region’s political hub was moved from Cotabato City to Koronadal City.
Referred to as South Central Mindanao, SOCCSKSARGEN has
four provinces (Cotabato, Sarangani, South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat), three
component cities (Kidapawan, Koronadal and Tacurong), one independent city
(Cotabato) and one highly-urbanized city (GenSan).
Once called Dadiangas, GenSan was originally inhabited by
B’laans, one of Mindanao’s indigenous communities. In the late 1930s, a small
group of Christian settlers from Luzon led by General Paulino Santos, former
commanding general of the Philippine Army, arrived at the shores of Sarangani
Bay.
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| Kinilaw (tuna ceviche) |
Appointed as head of the National Land Settlement
Administration (NSLA) by President Manuel Quezon, General Santos and his group
sought to facilitate the acquisition, settlement and cultivation of large
tracts of virgin lands in that part of the island then known as Buayan.
The early settlers became the first migrants who helped
develop Buayan, which, in the early 1950s, was renamed General Santos as a
fitting tribute to its great pioneer. Over the years, its economy enjoyed
unprecedented growth, fueled largely by the establishment of agri-based
multinational companies.
In 1968, the boom town of GenSan became a full-fledged
city, which later transformed itself into one of the island’s economic hubs.
Within a span of two decades, it became a highly-urbanized city of South
Cotabato. Today, GenSan continues to ride on the crest of economic prosperity.
I’d like to consider myself an adopted son of GenSan. I
first saw it several many years ago when I visited my father who was then
working for one of the provincial offices of a national government agency.
Since then, I came to the city not only to see him but also to touch base with
some kith and kin there.
Later, as a fledgling researcher, I shuttled to and fro
GenSan nearly every month as part of a team working with the local government
as well as attend meetings and trainings there. Even today, I still drop by the
city whenever I could for I always find an escapade there to be invigorating.
All those times I was in GenSan, I’ve made it a point to
savor and take home some of the delectable species—yellow fin, skipjack, big
eye, frigate and the like—that have
earned for it the title, “Tuna Capital of the Philippines”. Fresh, processed or
canned, tuna is a prized delicacy to this fish lover.
Every
September, GenSan sizzles with activity as it celebrates the week-long Tuna
Festival, which also coincides with the city’s founding anniversary. The
thanksgiving festivities include carnivals, tuna dish competitions, street
parades of tuna and tuna-like floats, street dancing, including sports and
musical performances.
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| Grilled tuna belly, one of GenSan's must-eats |
For
the past several months, I’d been wanting to embark on another sojourn
to GenSan. This finally saw the light of day recently. It
was a long weekend so I packed my stuff and headed for the city. From
Davao
City, I drove solo, mustering up all my guts to find my way safely into the city.
While it was a rather short trip, it left a large cache
of sweet memories and stirring impressions that I’ve managed to put together in
this online anthology. Come to think of it, it took time for me to realize
there’s a lot I could share about GenSan in my blog! Ah, better late than
never.
Just several months after my last visit, much has already
changed in GenSan's landscape that I almost got lost there! It seemed like an
entirely different place. Where vast hectares of idle lands used to be, malls,
hotels, restaurants, resorts, shops, stores and the like have sprouted.
Some of these
establishments aren’t just no-name entities but plush ones like
Robinsons, SM, Gaisano and even KCC, its homegrown mall, which attract
mallrats. Habitués who are fond of killing time by shopping, dining, playing,
watching movies and strolling will have a field day exploring those pleasure
grounds.
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| East Asia Royale Hotel |
If
you’re looking for a place where you can commune with nature, then head for
Sarangani Highlands Garden. I’ve been hearing about this hotel-in-a-garden so I
opted to spend one night there instead of lingering at my usual hideaways when
I’m in town: East Asia Royale Hotel and Microtel Suites.
Mind you, Sarangani Highlands Garden isn’t just a garden
or a hotel; it’s such a blissful paradise neatly tucked in GenSan’s outskirts.
And here’s more that makes it your money’s worth: All the hotel rooms there
have a stunning view of the garden or Sarangani Bay!
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| The beach in Dolores Tropicana Resort |
Another interesting place in GenSan is Plaza Heneral,
which is just a stone’s throw away from City Hall. As a teenager, I used to
watch shows and sports activities there while waiting for my father to leave
his office. Later, I whiled away time in the park after our meetings with the
local government’s planning staff.
Reopened to the public some four years ago, the plaza now
looks much better than before. It has lighting fixtures and a fish pond right
in the middle. Benches have also been added where people can sit back, relax
and bask in the beauty of the surroundings.
By day, the plaza looks rather drab and uninteresting. By
night, it transforms into a wonderland of sorts crawling with itinerant vendors
selling all kinds of foodstuff, not to mention their customers who seem to have
their own niches inside the park—skaters, bikers, street dancers, lovers and
the like.
(to be continued)
Off the beaten track, Sultan Kudarat (perhaps with few exceptions like Tacurong City) is
probably one of those places in Mindanao most people would rather skip in their
itinerary for “security” reasons. I’ve been wanting to explore it myself a long
time ago as I happen to have a few relatives in the provincial capital, Isulan.
But the “fear” of entering a land “just a stone’s throw away” from a dreaded
conflict zone kept hindering me from pushing through with my plan. 
Sultan Kudarat (or the SK in the acronym
of SOCCSKSARGEN Region) happens to be near one of the most notorious war zones
in the country that hugged the headlines not too long ago—remember the
bloodbath that took place in the infamous town of Mamasapano in Maguindanao?
From what I’ve gathered, SK was named
after a fierce leader who ruled a huge part of Mindanao in the 1600s. Sultan
Kudarat a.k.a. Muhammad Dipatuan Kudarat (sometimes spelled as Qudarat or
Corralat) headed the Sultanate of Maguindanao who successfully opposed the
Spanish colonizers who attempted to conquer his land and hindered the
Christianization of the island.
As fate would have it, I suddenly found
myself journeying to SK, not just once but twice this year! On both occasions,
I was subdued all the time I was there—so subdued to the point of being
sub-rosa! Being a newcomer, I always try to maintain a low profile whenever I
tread certain places perceived (sometimes, wrongly!) to be “hotspots of
conflict”, particularly those in Central Mindanao like Sultan Kudarat. 
During my first trip there, I passed
through what most travelers would consider the road less travelled—a portion of
Maguindanao, particularly the towns of Datu Paglas and Buluan. To my pleasant
surprise, however, the sojourn to SK turned out to be a pleasant one. And for
the record, SK, as I’ve experience it, is one of the more peaceful provinces in
the island.
For my second trip to SK, however, I
opted to take the other route, the longer but “safer” road, they say, driving
along the smooth stretches that connect General Santos (GenSan) City, the towns
of South Cotabato (Polomolok, Tupi and Tantangan) as well as its capital,
Koronadal City to Sultan Kudarat. For the first sojourn, I stayed in Tacurong
City. Meanwhile, GenSan was my home away from home during my second visit. 
Short
as they were, the sojourns to Sultan Kudarat gave me the chance to explore a
few of its interesting sites. In Tacurong, I was able to visit the secluded
Baras Bird Sanctuary where thousands of birds are said to hibernate during
their mating season (sometime in May). Unfortunately, I only managed to see
some of the fowls when I came. But they were so elusive I couldn’t take snaps
at them even from a distance. 
Aside from the Muslim leader, there’s
another popular local figure that caught my attention—Don Juan Garcia—whose
bust adorns the main lobby of the capitol. Garcia, who was instrumental for the
progress of Isulan, is also known as the prime mover of the development of the
palm oil industry not only in Sultan Kudarat but the whole of South Central
Mindanao Region. 
