Tukiba, Surallah: Discovering Surallah, South Cotabato

According to Atty. Agnes Padilla-Escalera, “tukiba” in Hiligaynon dialect means, “to discover” and Surallah is just one of the many places your freelance writer explored during my Southern Mindanao trip for Agnes and Glenn’s wedding.

Please don’t shoot me as I confess that I never heard about Surallah before. My eyes first laid upon the word written on a signboard in a bus terminal in Koronadal City as I took a ride to Isulan, Kudarat. I asked Agnes about it and she told me that we’ll drop by for our Lake Sebu excursion with emphasis on their “Round Ball”. Hmm, I was curious.

The very next day after their wedding, we were on a road trip. Yeah, I kinda spoiled their honeymoon.hahaha!

On our way. I think this is still in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat

Welcome to Surallah, South Cotabato. Part of my bliss is the fact that I hopped from one province to another.

I love looking into the origins of a place’s name and for Surallah, I am making a hypothesis here.

As we traveled, I saw a river, not big but it was a river and Agnes ( you should know she was my tour guide) that it’s called “Allah River” and before, a motorcycle can cross it to the next town. With quarries, the river widened. With a little research, I found out that Allah River is one of the tributaries of Mindanao River, the second largest river in the Philippines that runs mostly within Central Mindanao. Lastly, with Google map, Surallah is located at the southern tip where the river flows.

So my hypothesis is that “Surallah” means “south of Allah (River)”; “sur” of course means “south”. Please correct me and if you agree, please quote me. haha!

So let’s go back to Surallah. Here is their “Round Ball”. Turns out to be a rotunda.

It is the main landmark of the whole complex made of statues and structures that depict and celebrate Surallah from their agricultural wealth to its heritage from different cultures of T’boli, Muslims and Christians ( mostly Ilonggos).

It is the work of renowned artist, Rey Mudjahid “Kublai” Millan. He is responsible for various arts in Mindanao including the statue of Sultan Kudarat and those of this homecity, Davao. So much to share that I will have a separate post on this.

Tilapia

Fiscal Atty. PAdilla-Escalera strikes a pose. Unintentionally

Surallah Municipal Hall. Aluminum cladding gives its facade a modern look. (Note: Thank you for the jargon Architect Denis Jaleco,hope this statement is right. haha!)