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From The Editor’s Desk

Once upon a time in a land far away a T’boli chieftain, upon hearing of his princess’s forbidden love for a lowly warrior, cursed the Saub River that they crossed as they eloped. Forever after, the stones that fill the river bed have be turned to the blackest black, to warn all who followed that nobody should pass there again else they will be excommunicated as was the princess.

Sarangani (and the area of South Cotabato around General Santos City) is steeped in legend & myth, and is a place where multiple cultures have blended into a colorful patchwork of beliefs and ways, that differ from the norm of life in much of the rest of the Philippines.

The indigenous peoples of Sarangani identify themselves with an ancestry spanning thousands of years – long before the invasion of Muslims (late 1500s) and Christians (early 1500s and 1900s) who have slowly, deliberately perverted the harmonious culture of the T’boli and the B’laan. The exquisite ancestral burial jars of Ayub Cave are some of the very few remaining artifacts that the indigenous people’s have to prove the extent of their once pervasive ancestral domains. A thousand years ago they never needed a document to prove their dominion - the peoples and the birds and the beasts of the valleys & forests knew only harmony and respect for one another.

To this day, the stones are the blackest black in the cursed river but, like much around the World newly labeled “national resource”, the forests have been pilfered for profit, the rivers have been diverted for irrigation and the air is now all but devoid of the eagles’ cry. Wide, smooth roads, gracefully sweep through newly–hewn gorges, offering rapid motorized transit between burgeoning communities of assimilated indigenous and immigrant people’s.

In this 21st century Sarangani is slowly coming–out. It’s beautiful white beaches to the East are being “discovered” by the modern sun–worshiping traveler. Marine sanctuaries are protecting the corals, where napoleon wrasse now regularly show themselves to scuba divers & snorkelers without fear; and, beaches, where four species of sea turtle can safely breed with expectation that their eggs will not be stolen for profit. This is pioneer country for water sports enthusiasts. In Sarangani, much that can be enjoyed is dispersed, each venue is distant from the next but each is unique and fresh.

Come and join us in this introduction to a growing Philippine water sports destination: even if only to help spread the word, as do its modern warriors and princesses (Manny Pacquiao and Shamcey Supsup), that Sarangani & “Gen San” offer a safe, beautiful and rewarding place where to imbibe Mother Nature’s blessings.

But first, a round up of recent water sports events worthy of note.