Mindanao
The signals Mindanao sends to the rest of the Philippines
and the rest of the world, are nothing if not mixed. This massive
island at the foot of the archipelago is in many ways the cultural
and artistic heart of the country, a place where tribalism and
capitalism clash head on, and where refugees from Manila's
pollution have fled in search of cleaner air and greener pastures.
This has led to something of a cultural and economic boom in cities
such as Davao , Mindanao's de facto capital. Yet Mindanao
has also been a nagging thorn in the side of successive
governments, with repeated attempts by the island's Muslims to
break away from the governance of Manila and establish their own
autonomous regions on the island. Mindanao's Muslim (or Moro) and
indigenous Lumad peoples, now outnumbered by majority Filipinos -
the largely Christian descendants of twentieth-century settlers
from the northern and central Philippines - are asserting rights to
their traditional lands and to self-determination. The Moro
National Liberation Front (MNLF) resorted to a war for independence
in the 1970s. Meanwhile, a communist-led rebellion spread from the
northern Philippines to Mindanao, drawing many majority Filipinos,
particularly among the rural poor, and some Lumads into the New
People's Army (NPA). In 1996, the Philippine Government signed a
peace pact with the MNLF granting a certain degree of autonomy to
four provinces on condition of a plebiscite. But this peace is by
no means final or universal, and splinter groups are still engaged
in conflict. Tourists are generally safe, but those who venture
towards Muslim strongholds in the south should be aware that there
have been a number of kidnappings in recent years. Most of the
major tourist activities are based around the north and east coasts
of Mindanao where there have been few problems. Davao is the
gateway to Mindanao, but from Cagayan de Oro in the north
you can also explore Bukidnon , the country's only
landlocked province, as well as Camiguin , a small island of
white beaches and brooding volcanoes.
Access by plane to Mindanao is usually through one of
five airports on the island: Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos,
Cotabato and Zamboanga City. Philippine Airlines has daily flights
to all five and also has a daily flight between Cebu and Davao.
Mindanao Express has flights from Cebu and Davao to various
destinations on Mindanao, though the airline's schedules are soon
set to change and new flights are being added (and old ones
dropped), so check with its Manila office for an update. It's a
long journey to Mindanao by ferry from Manila, with some
services stopping off at other ports of call on the way. When you
book a ferry ticket it's worth checking if it's direct or not:
direct voyages take about eighteen hours, but if the ferry calls at
other ports, you will find yourself at sea for a couple of days.
WG&A Superferry sails to the following places in Mindanao:
Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Zamboanga, Dipolog, Iligan,
Ozamis, Surigao, Nasipit and Cotabato. Negros Navigation serves the
same routes, with the exception of Dipolog. There are numerous
ferry services, big and small, connecting Mindanao to other
provincial destinations in the Visayas.
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