Ampatuan Town

It's not like when I'm on a trip looking for a bliss-y place I always end up in a paradise. Sometimes, my itchy feet would tripped over a controversial location .

Some place like where the Maguindanao Massacre happened. Hey, no way! I didn't go in there. I was still feeling kindah strange about this place. The air still blew eerie up to this entrance even thu' it was almost a year had passed. Above photo was where the cars were gun-pointedly rerouted from the main highway towards this rugged alley and apparently passengers were brutally killed later on.

Snap Facts : The Maguindanao massacre, also known as the Ampatuan massacre (after the town where the mass graves were found), occurred on the morning of November 23, 2009, in the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao province, on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. While the victims were on their way to file a certificate of candidacy for Esmael Mangudadatu, vice mayor of Buluan town, they were kidnapped and brutally killed. Mangudadatu was challenging Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan, Jr., son of the incumbent Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan, Sr., in the forthcoming Maguindanao gubernatorial election, part of the national elections in 2010. The 57 people killed included Mangudadatu's wife, his two sisters, journalists, lawyers, aides, and motorists who were witnesses or were mistakenly identified as part of the convoy. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called the Maguindanao massacre the single deadliest event for journalists in history. At least 34 journalists are known to have died in the massacre. click source




After few minutes we reached  the Ampatuan Town. So aptly named after the powerful clan, almost all establishments in the town have their name on them. I was not so sure about why the town looked so empty to me. I could count on my fingers the number of people I saw in the town. Might be cos it was Ramadan during my visit but a relative from Cotabato said that after the massacre incident, the town turned out  looking  like a ghost town. The rest of the Ampatuans were said to have had left the province by this time.

Even the local businesses seemed to have had ceased the operations. For instance this gas station,.. wait something had caught my eye______

A backhoe !?? No, it's not, but definitely a construction vehicle. Funny, how the word backhoe became so word of mouth in our country cos of this incident. Even my girls now knew what a backhoe is! Only now it also defines synonymous with the Ampatuan massacre.

Business un-usual.

I saw only less than 5 kinds of structures in the town : people's nipa huts, commercial establishments, Ampatuan mansions and the seats of power ( of the Ampatuans) :

Oh well..?

Seemingly they are lovers of sweet colored lavish mansions. These three mansions are owned by the Ampatuan in this side of the province. See their Davao City's mansions here.




The excessive lifestyle is very pronounced by the vast difference of the structures between the huts of their constituents and those mansions of the ones who once ruled.




It's not fair to judge, especially I who is almost clueless about the clan of Ampatuans, but I just want to share you something :

"Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship".- Orwell,George

Meat Eater Plants

So even some plants prefer meat? These carnivorous plants got me intrigued, I was expecting huge/gigantic flowers which I saw on science fiction films snapping humans , eating them alive. So I went inside this booth and found these cute plants. No, they weren't eating human, they were too small even to snap a tiny finger. They actually eat insects.

Snap Facts : Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants whose prey-trapping mechanism features a deep cavity filled with liquid known as a pitfall trap. It has been widely assumed that the various sorts of pitfall trap evolved from rolled leaves, with selection pressure favouring more deeply cupped leaves over evolutionary time. _  click source

Now that dengue mosquitoes are rampant in Manila, I think they are going to be a good ally against those dangerous insects. Wait___ I hope these plants are not picky, do they eat dengue mosquitoes?




Found the booth in a trade fair during Kadayawan in Davao City.

Kidapawan, Cotabato

Had passed by to Kidapawan City, Cotabato. The city sits at the foot of Mt. Apo. Apart from being known as the fruit basket ( growing and harvesting exotic fruits  like marang, durian, mangosteen lanzones, rambutan) of the country it also prides itself as a city of highland springs.

Scenic springs sprung up on the road sides every few kilometers driven. It was so refreshing to see water rushing down the short bridges. God must love this city so much, He showered it with so much beauty of nature.

Funny how karma works so fast. I remember how I squirmed my face during our most recent Baguio trip with this side of the family having their photos with the over exposed iconic lion head statue. And here look who was doing the same.. haha.




So nice their road plants. X'mas treat all year round.

Seriously, I envy how this city was flourished with so much beauty. Myriad of exotic flowers which I haven't seen before this, were growing anywhere I turned my gaze.

Ferns of different sizes and shapes swarming branches of trees in random.

And exotic eyes of these creatures inhabiting in this gifted city had crimped my aggressive nature but their beauties were totally undeniable.

Kidapawan, truly you are a spring in a highland !

Beautiful Muslim Mosque-s

Snap Facts : Eid ul-Fitr, known to the Christian majority and other non-Muslims as "Wakás ng Ramadán" ("End of Ramadan") or incorrectly as "Ramadan", has been recognised by the Filipino Government as a regular holiday by virtue of Republic Act No. 9177, signed into law on November 13, 2002. The law was enacted in deference to the Muslim-Filipino community and to promote peace among major religions in the Philippines. The first national commemoration of Eid ul-Fitr was on December 6, 2002, marked by prayers and celebrations by the Muslim community.

For the 2010 observance of Eid ul-Fitr, incumbent President Aquino issued a Proclamation declaring Friday, September 10, 2010 a nationwide, special non-working holiday.

 In observance of the Eid'l Fitr in the Philippines, we all enjoy another long weekend, having today as a non-working holiday.
Three weeks ago, I had the chance to have my first visit to Cotabato. Covered by the Ramadan, I was able to personally witness their sunlight fasting which ended around 6pm when the sun was about to rest. I heard a religious music being played around the whole town which seemed to be an announcement that the fasting for the day ended. Only to resume the next dawn of the day.

I saw a lot of beautiful mosque-s in this province.  Here are some of those :

Eid Mubārak to our Muslim brothers and sisters!