SULU: Its hidden Beauty

By Ahmad Musahari
Frelance Writer, A Tausug
asmusahari@gmail.com

Sulu had always been the "War Zone" in Southern Philippines. In fact, the name of the province itself was linked with the thoughts of the common people as "Conflict-ridden", "Unstable", "filled with fear and poverty", and worst "Terror". Yet nevertheless, Sulu had also given birth to enumerable and unrecorded histories. Sulu may be the 'poorest of the poor' provinces, but still, it had remained to be one of the riches provinces in terms of culture, history and natural resources as well.

This PhotoDocumentation by the author of this blog aims on showing the world what the other side of the coin: Sulu's Hidden Beauty.

Masjid Tulay:
This is the Largest Masjid in the Province.
Situated at the center of the Capital Town of Jolo (Barangay Tulay),
this single building marked the "Dawn of new Hope" for the Tausug People.
Amidst all the instabilities, there lies a new hope that unites the Tausugs as one,
a single beam of light in the great Darkness.
Our religion, Islam, brings Unity.

"Bud TumanTangis"
The highest Peak in Sulu's Land, Bud Tumantangis is a landscape icon,
known for its cone-shape and various legends in Tausug folklores
It is indeed a place you must not miss to visit.



Mau'buh Beach:
One of the coveted White-sand beaches in the province.
Another Place to be there!

The Famous Sulu Sunset
Overseeing the Vast Sulu sea, one will always be awed with the
beauty of Sulu Sunset only to be found in Sulu



The Fountain:
One of the colorful fountains displayed in a park fronting
the Sulu Provincial Capitol.
(People can not still believe that this beautiful scene can be found in the most
'dangerous'--as they said it to be--island)

PC Cannon:
History is everywhere in this small island.
This cannon is a remnant of the Spanish Regime in 1700's
Police Constabulary (PC) compound, Asturias, Sulu.

Sulu Provincial Capitol

Hastana' Kiram:

Among the royal bloods of Sultans and Datus, the Kiram family were among the most famous.
This Hastana' had served as their palace: the birthplace of most of the faces of History in the Sulu Sultanate Lineage.

The Flag of Courage:The Sulu Sultanate Darul Islam

This is the icon of Unity among the Tausug People.
Amidst all the Oppressing acts the Tausug people have experienced, never had come into their minds the word of "Surrender". They never gave up in fighting for their own right for FREEDOM!

So long as this flag stands...
We will keep fighting for our Right!

Allahu Akbar!

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NOW, DO YOU THINK SULU IS STILL THE 'ZONE of WAR'? THINK AGAIN, there still lies a new face this beautiful island has in store. THIS IS THE REAL FACE OF SULU: THE HIDDEN BEAUTY BEHIND IT ALL. A PLACE OF RICH WONDER, CULTURE, HISTORY and BEAUTY.

WELCOME TO THE LAND OF PEARLS!

DISCOVER SULU ISLANDS!

SBSO: Making a Change

i,

PEACE. UNITY and COOPERATION:

Our main Aspirations here in MSU MARAWI!

Swara Bangsa Student Organization (SBSO)

MSU Marawi City

Swara Bangsa Student Organization or SBSO is an umbrella organization of the different students here in MSU Marawi City, coming from different places in Mindanao (especially the ZamBaSulTa region and also from far areas as Palawan, Surigao, and Davao); UNITED as one FAMILY, helping each other for the sake of ISLAMIC BROTHERHOOD, for the advancement of ACADEMIC ENDEAVORS of our brothers and for the SOLIDARITY and DEVELOPMENT of PEACE and COOPERATION among us all.

The main components of the Organization are Tausug, Sama, Yakan and Mapun students.But we do not make any barriers or limitations as to who can beccome a member of this organization. So long as you are willing to sacrifice for the sake of the brotherhood, you are always welcome to be a member.

SBSO was officially created in 1994, an off-shoot product of the 'father-organizations' as ANAK-SUG, ANAK-MORO, TUBUHSUG, and TUBUH BAHGU (which dated back from the creation of MSU Marawi in 1961) until it finally became the SWARA BANGSA STUDENT ORGANIZATION.

What are the Activities that we usually do?

> Annual Orientation of freshmen

> Anniversary celebration (every June 12)

> CBP and CPC Tutorials (free and informal)

> Annual Celebration of Eidul Fitr and Eidul Adha for the Members

>  Participates and co-organize Annual Tribal Friendship games 

> SBSO Enrollment Task Force

> Monthly meetings and bondings

Other remarkable actions we have done:

> Helping our fellow brothers in their studies by supporting him/her in any way we can

> Providing temporary shelter, or place of staying for Tausug brothers who are new in Marawi

> Conducted Relief operations to affected areas in Sulu and other areas during calamities

> Participated in various University activities as Quiz shows and the like, and won some awards.

> Participated in the 3rd Royal Convention of Sulu Sultanate Darul Islam as Student Observers

SBSO Members preparing the Relief goods for delivery

Our Future plans of Activities (InshaAllah):

> Organization of the SBSO Alumni Association

> Conducting SASE reviews in ZamBaSulTa Areas

> Create a SBSO Scholarship Grant for the deserving students

(but we need tremendous support from the Alumni for this to happen)

SULU Wonders: the Old Walled City

By Ahmad Musahari
Free lance Writer
asmusahari@gmail.com
(This is a re-post from: www.anak-iluh.blogspot.com)

What is the use of knowing the history of other countries if you don't know your own country's?

This is my sole impetus of studying little by little the almost-forgotten history of one of the magnificent Sultanate of all seas: the Sulu Sultanate, my homeland of course! But even though my few researches have only reached few results as well, I am still nevertheless excited to share what I have discovered; small pieces of puzzles are parts of a big picture. This blog is about one of my great adventures in finding the remaining historical landmarks in Sulu (even us Tausugs never knew it was there!)

Join me, lets explore once more and find out where the smallest WALLED CITY is!

(PS: as you can remember, I have blogged about the "Moro Consciousness week" wherein I promised to fill in the entry about the 'walled City' in Sulu. And here it is: a promise is still a promise ;-) link

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Entering the small town of Jolo, just right after the Sulu pier, one will see this quite unusual structure on a corner of one of the main roads in Jolo town. It does look like a tower; perhaps just a decoration, or maybe a remnant of the past 'Tower defense' in Sulu. But, hey, only few Tausugs really know what it is and why it's there. it seems that many would never care about it, its already neglected now--really neglected, I mean. What could it be? Why is it there? Who put them there? All these things instigated my motivation to find out the answers myself. And so, my long adventure started...

The First Towers:

found at the Jolo Main Road, going to Jolo proper from Capitol Site

A closer look...

The date was during the American period.

This is still confusing: in 1920's, was it the date the tower was created or repaired?

In a Book entitled Sulu History by Najeeb Saleeby--who went to Sulu himself--the author gave a good description of how the Tiyanggi Town (now Jolo) looked like during the Spanish Conquest. During the time the Spaniards took control over the Market Capital of Tianggi (just Jolo, not the whole of Sulu), they created a small city or compound and sorrounded it with cement walls (Batu Tisa) as fortresses protecting them from outside attacks, hence the name Jolo Walled City. In fact, if the walled City still stands until today, it would be the smallest walled city in the world.

The only way to enter the 'walls' were through five entrance gates: two gates fronting the Sulu Sea where ports are; and the rest going to the inlands. The gates were guarded by Spanish Guards, and are only opened at certain times for some important matters like trading goods and the like. Years later the Spaniards left Jolo leaving the walled city there. the walls are already gone by time, and perhaps the gates, too. Is it still possible to know where they stood once?

The real Asturias gate fronting the Pier gate, Jolo, ca. early 1900s

I cant see the 'towers'. and I have not found it yet.

A photo of the smallest Walled city in the World:
SULU WALLED CITY

Honestly, I am still not sure if these gates WERE the towers that I have been researching about. I havent even read about the towers being there. But because of the locations of the gates given in books I've read about, it gave me the reason to theorize that maybe, the towers ARE the entrance gates or atleast, WHERE THE REAL GATES WERE before. We'll need more time to research on these things further. (Hope someone will fill us in regarding the matter).

And so started my journey to find those FIVE GATES or TOWERS:-) I walked here and there, asked some people about some strange 'tower-like' buildings, and with my camera, took shots of them. My efforts did gain its rewards: I found three of the Five gates; and not just that, I also discovered the remaining walls of the walled City. You've already seen the first towers on our previous photos. Here are the others:

Second Towers:

from town proper to Barangay San rai Mundo

A closer shot of the Second tower

And the Third Tower: (perhaps the most neglected one)

Just before entering Jolo Pier Gate. This is the Pier gate before.

Now its covered by these housings

The other Third Tower. You see the small white roof protruding?

Yes? They dont seem to see what is its importance.

The remaining wall:

Seen or perhaps found at the back of a T-Shirt printing Store. Good thing they haven't decided to destroy it.

As of now, I am still looking for the remaining two Towers or Gates, or marks; some interviews revealed that the remaining two towers were destroyed either by the government to give space to other buildings, or was destroyed by war. To those who are familiar with the places in Jolo, the two towers were reported to be seen somewhere in Bus-Bus street (near Municipal Hall) and Sarang Bangon, going to barangay Alat. And also, I'm still trying to read more books about these landmarks to have a better picture of it all.

And to finally wrap up things before I end this journey, I wanted to make things clear (and some trivia as well to my readers):

1. I can not tell if the towers WERE the old gates of the walled city or they are just LANDMARKS made perhaps during the American Period (as the date on them states). I just said, it could be them. And that was just a theory.

2. As you might have observed, the towers were painted white and it might have been decades ago (not centuries). So we cannot tell that it is totally neglected; someone or some people had somehow got the nerve to say, "hey, its a good historical site, we should paint it". It was taken cared of, well that was before... I am not sure if they are still doing it till now. They are still in danger of being destroyed someday :-(

3. There is a small barangay in Jolo called "WALLED CITY". That strengthens our theory:-)

Mga tau ha walled City, bihaun kaingatan niyu na mayta walled City in tawag sin lungan niyu ha?

4. I have another theory of why the Tausugs (people of Sulu) do not really care about these towers. If it is indeed a remnant of the Spanish Walled city, it would only remind them of how the once invulnerable Sulu Sultanate was infiltrated (again, not totally conquered, just some portion of it, and not for a long time too). That gave many of us the reason to say: "Why remember those things? they were supposed to be destroyed and be gone forever!)

Perhaps the fourth number up there holds some truth in the discussion. But it should not always be the case. The past is already there; there is nothing we can do more about it. Having a sad past doesn't meet forgetting it all and all! Instead we can use it in a way more practical: like remembering how our ancestors fought there way in through those GATES and finnally entered and reclaimed the lost territory! Di ba?

Our History is part of our life. It is already there. It is a unique treasure that we owe to take care of. And in some ways, giving us a better picture of how we wanted to shape our present, envision our future and never let the dark pasts bother us again!

I am a Tausug. And I am proud to be born with this blood flowing through my veins!

:-) uwah pamulansang!