Polomolok, South Cotabato

 My hometown Polomolok is located at the southern  part of South Cotabato.It is a first class municipality. It is nestled at the base of the most prominent scenic spot Mt. Matutum a cone-shaped mountain that looms over the provinces at 2,286 meters high, a unique challenge to mountaineers.It is also home to the biggest pineapple plantation in the world DOLE Philippines which generates about 6,000 jobs at present.

Tourist attractions

MOUNT MATUTUM.This is one of the favorite climb destination in SOCKSARGEN area.

SALKAK CAVE. A place where nature lovers will experience the adventure of caving from stalactites and stalagmites to the cool springs and the fresh mountain breeze outside. The cool spring of Natures Bounty and Spring Hill Resort manifest beauty and comfort in the coolness of its water during summer.  These 2 medium resort is frequented by people from the Upper Valley and Sarangani Province.

DOLE CANNERY. For tourists, Dole Cannery and the vast pineapple and asparagus plantation is a scenario worth reminiscing.

DOLE KALSANGI CLUB HOUSE. For the food gourmet, Dole Kalsangi Club House offers Western and Asian cuisine and drinks “ a la garde”.

KALSANGI GOLF COURSE. Golf course at Kalsangi offers the aficionados a drive to conquer the 18th  hole without miss or “puree”.

TRAPPISTINE MONASTERY. The Trappistine Sisters Monastery in Landan is also a place of worship and spiritual renewals.  It is visited by pilgrims and benefactors within the country and abroad.

ESGUERRA FARM. The development of the vast Esguerra Farm in Kawit, Maligo as an eco-tourism area is another  attraction.  It is in this area where the flora and fauna could be easily revived through the active participation of NGO’s, PO’s and the full support from the municipal government.

Resorts and places to visit:

Dolores Farm Resort (Entrance fee 50 php)

 

Entrance Fee 50 php

 Natures Bounty Resort


Durian Farm

The Mystery of Human Life

Have you ever wondered why you are living in this world and what the purpose of your life is? There are six keys that unlock this mystery.

1. God’s Plan

God desires to express Himself through man (Rom. 8:29). For this purpose, He created man in His own image (Gen. 1:26). Just as a glove is made in the image of a hand to contain a hand, so also man is made in the image of God to contain God. By receiving God as his content, man can express God (2 Cor. 4:7).

2. Man

To fulfill His plan, God made man as a vessel (Rom. 9:21-24). This vessel has three parts: body, soul, and spirit (1 Thes. 5:23). The body contacts and receives the things of the physical realm. The soul, the mental faculty, contacts and receives the things of the psychological realm. And the human spirit, the innermost part of man, was made to contact and receive God Himself (John 4:24). Man was created not merely to contain food in his stomach, or to contain knowledge in his mind, but to contain God in his spirit (Eph. 5:18).

3. Man’s Fall

But before man could receive God as life into his spirit, sin entered into him (Rom. 5:12). Sin deadened his spirit (Eph. 2:1), made him an enemy of God in his mind (Col. 1:21), and transmuted his body into sinful flesh (Gen. 6:3; Rom. 6:12). Thus, sin damaged all three parts of man, alienating him from God. In this condition, man could not receive God.

4. Christ’s Redemption for God’s Dispensing

Nevertheless, man’s fall did not deter God from fulfilling His original plan. In order to accomplish His plan, God first became a man called Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14). Then Christ died on the cross to redeem man (Eph. 1:7), thus taking away his sin (John 1:29) and bringing him back to God (Eph. 2:13). Finally, in resurrection, He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b) so that He could dispense His unsearchably rich life into man’s spirit (John 20:22; 3:6).

5. Man’s Regeneration

Since Christ has become the life-giving Spirit, man can now receive God’s life into his spirit. The Bible calls this regeneration (1 Pet. 1:3; John 3:3). To receive this life, man needs to repent to God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21; 16:31).

To be regenerated, simply come to the Lord with an open and honest heart and say to Him:

Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I need You. Thank you for dying for me. Lord Jesus, forgive me. Cleanse me from all my sins. I believe You rose from the dead. I receive You right now as my Savior and life. Come into me! Fill me with Your life! Lord Jesus, I give myself to You for Your purpose.

6. God’s Full Salvation

After regeneration, a believer needs to be baptized (Mark 16:16). Then God begins the lifelong process of gradually spreading Himself as life from the believer’s spirit into his soul (Eph. 3:7). This process, called transformation (Rom. 12:2), requires human cooperation (Phil 2:12). The believer cooperates by allowing the Lord to spread into his soul until all his desires, thoughts, and decisions become one with those of Christ. Finally, at Christ’s return, God will fully saturate the believer’s body with His life. This is called glorification (Phil. 3:21). Thus, instead of being empty and damaged in each part, this man is filled and saturated with the life of God. This is God’s full salvation! Such a man now expresses God, fulfilling God’s plan!

South Cotabato

South Cotabato (Filipino:Timog Kotabato) is a province of the Philippines located in the SOCCSKARGEN region in Mindanao and  is one of the fast growing provinces in the Philippines.

The people of South Cotabato have diverse heritages. Ilonggos from Panay and Negros in the Visayas settled the municipalities of Norala, Banga, Surallah, Sto. Niño and the province's capital, Koronadal.On the other hand, people from the Ilocano speaking regions of Luzon settled in Tampakan, Tantangan and Tupi, and the Ilocano language may still be heard spoken in these towns. The Visayan language, Cebuano is also the main ethnic ethnolinguistic group of the municipality of Polomolok and is one of the main ethnolinguistic groups of Tupi (along with Ilonggo and Tagalog, which slightly differs from Manila Tagalog.

The people of South Cotabato are multilingual, able to communicate in T'boli, as well as in Hiligaynon and/or , Cebuano as well as in both Tagalog and English. Other languages spoken are Ilocano and Ilonggo. The indigenous tribes, in addition, use their own tribal dialects.

South Cotabato is subdivided into: 10 municipalities namely Banga, Lake Sebu, Norala, Polomolok,Santo Niño, Surallah, T’boli, Tampakan, Tantangan and Tupi; 1 highly-urbanized city General Santos City and 1 component city Koronadal. 

Tourist attractions in South Cotabato include

Lake Sebu,

 

Mt. Matutum,

Koronadal Valley and the beautiful surroundings of pao-pao.