BUKIDNON

Mc Noriel Baldonado
10-Optimism
 Bukidnon

Bukidnon is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the

Northern Mindanao region. The province of Bukidnon is subdivided into 20
municipalities and 2 cities.Its capital is Malaybalay City. The province borders,
clockwise starting from the north, Misamis Oriental, Agusan del Sur, Davao del
Norte, Cotabato, Lanao del Sur, and Lanao del Norte.

Bukidnon is considered by Filipinos to be the food basket of Mindanao.

It is the major producer of rice and corn in the region. Plantations in the
province also produce pineapples, bananas and sugarcane.

There are no seaports in the province, although there is an airport in

Malaybalay City. The airport is currently closed. To get to Bukidnon, one must
travel by land from Cagayan de Oro City in Misamis Oriental Province.

The province's total land area is 829,378 hectares (8, 293.78 square
kilometers). It accounts for 59 percent (59%) of Northern Mindanao. Thirty-eight
percent (38%) is alienable and disposable. The rest is classified timberland.

Based on the National Statistics Office (NSO) Census last 2000, Bukidnon
has a total population of 1,060,415. The average population density for the
province is 128 persons per square kilometer.

The major language spoken in the province is Cebuano, used by 77.92%

‘
total households in the province. It is followed by Binukid (Bukidnon) with 8.86%.

Bukidnon is an agricultural economy. it is a major producer of rice, maize,

sugar, coffee, rubber, pineapple, tomato, flowers, cassava, and other fruits
and vegetables. It is also a major producer of chickens, hogs and cattle.
Almost all large firms operating in the province are into production or
processing of these agricultural products.

Two types of climate prevail between the northern and southern sections
of Bukidnon, The northern part is classified as belonging to Type III, that is, there
is no pronounced rain period but relatively dry during the months of November
to May. In the southern portion of the province, the climate is classified as Type
IV with no dry season. The driest area is Baungon, while the wettest is the
Calabugao plain. The climate is relatively cool and humid throughout the year.

The average annual rainfall is 2, 800 millimeters (112.5 inches). Just like in
other parts of the country, rainfall is more pronounced from June to October
compared to other months of the year. February to April are the drier months.

Temperature ranges vary with elevation. In areas lower than 500 meters
above sea level (m.a.s.l.), the recorded temperature range is between 20°C
to 34°C. Areas with elevations greater than 500 m.a.s.l. would have
temperatures ranging from 18°C to 28°C.

People
The province is an ethnic melting pot with Visayan, Tagalog and
Ilocano migrants. Despite a diversity of cultures, the people have adopted
Cebuano as their language, supplemented by the native dialect called
Binukid.

The antives are mainly Bukidnons who

occupy the lowlands of the plateau while the
Manobos are in higlands. Bukidnon settlements
are clusters of households under their own datu.
They engage in kaingin farming, basket-
weaving and pottery. The women wear colorful
blouses with wide, flared sleeves, skirts of red
and white cloth sewn together, and shawls
embroidered in red.
 Some of the numerous indigenous tribes derive their name from their
place or origin: the Tigwahanon after the Tigwa watersheed, the Umayamnon
after the Umayan River, the Pulangiyon after the Pulangi Rivera and the
Matigsalug after the Salug River.

The Ilianon and Langilaon were named after the border areas they
occupy. The Tala-anding, named after a myth, are distinguished by the
elaborate fan-like headgear their women wear during festivals.

Culture and Heritage

Foreign influence

Bukidnon trace their origins to a pre-Islamic, Proto-Manobo-speaking

population located along the southwestern coast of Mindanao, perhaps near
the mouth of the Rio Grande. According to their oral epic known as
theUlagina,orOlagina,the central event in their history involved their journey
away from the coast and the trials they endured in the wilderness as they
followed their great culture hero named Agyu. They settled on the plateau and
developed trade ties with both the Islamicized Maguindanao to their south
and the Hispanicized Visayans to their north. They remained relatively
uninfluenced by Spanish rule until the 1880s and 1890s when Jesuits baptized
over 8,000 of the 20,000 people whom they estimated to comprise the
Bukidnon population, and persuaded most of these to settle in towns built on
the model of the Philippine plaza complex. Bukidnon also became more and
more closely tied to the Philippine economy as producers of cash crops like
abaca, cacao, coffee, and tobacco. The American colonial government
created a special province called Agusan in 1907, with Bukidnon as one of two
subprovinces whose "non-Christian" population came directly under American
governance. Bukidnon became a full province in 1914, but as an area
predominantly of "non-Christians" and hence still a Special Province, it
remained directly under American control. Americans initiated a flourishing
cattle industry on the plateau, which employed a number of Bukidnon men as
cowboys. They also opened a pineapple plantation, which involved still more
Bukidnon in the new cash economy. Guerrillas and Japanese soldiers
destroyed the cattle herds during World War II, leaving the land open for
thousands of farmers who migrated to Bukidnon in the 1950s and 1960s, thus
raising the province's population from 63,470 in 1948 to 194,368 in 1960, and to
414,762 in 1970. During this time of rapid population growth, the Binukid-
speaking population remained comparatively stable.
 Today they may be divided into three principal categories. First, some
continue to reside in very remote settlements near the headwaters of the
Pulangi or high up on the slopes of Mount Kitanglad or Mount Kalatungan. A
second category, comprising the majority of Bukidnon who reside in small
barangay spread out across the plateau, is more acculturated. Finally, a third
and much smaller category embraces those living in Malaybalay and other
towns along the highway, most of whom have ceased to regard themselves
as culturally different from their Bisayan neighbors.

Heritage

Bukidnon is a landlocked area in Mindanao, Philippines. Malaybalay City

is the capital of the locale. Bukidnon is a noteworthy maker of rice and corn
and has additionally huge pineapple manor.
Commonplace Capitol of Bukidnon, Malaybalay City

Bukidnon is the main area in Mindanao that has no coast line. In case
you're into experience, you can likewise visit Dahilayan Adventure and Forest
Park, a spot where you can ruin your inward adrenaline feels. The territory does
not have the run of the mill Philippine islands and shorelines. In any case, it has
plenitude of common springs. The vast majority of them are changed over into
resorts.
 Bahay Tulogan, Malaybalay Provincial Tourism Center

Kaamulan Open Mini Theater

"KAAMULAN" is from the binukid word "AMUL " meaning " to accumulate ".
It is the get-together party of the Bukidnon clans individuals for a reason. May
it be a Datuship Ritual, a thanksgiving celebration, a wedding service or
potentially the preferences.

Peruse: 100 Years, 7 Tribes, 1 Celebration: Bukidnon's Kaamulan Festival

kaamulanolan photograph from Travel Teller

Bukidnon is wealthy in culture as it has the living legacy of seven

indegenous clans ; the Manobo, the Higaonon, the Talaandig, the Matigsalug,
the Tigwahanon, the Bukidnon and the Umayamnon.

Cuisine

There will never be a shortage of green fields in the landlocked province

of Bukidnon. Known for being the food basket of Northern Mindanao, Bukidnon
has been a major producer of rice and corn in the region. Its abundant fields
paved way for many farms and plantations that eventually made the province
one of the country’s primary source of bananas, pineapples, and sugarcanes.
 FOODS TO DIE FOR IN BUKIDNON
Binaki, a known delicacy in Northern Mindanao, was originally a
homemade dessert in Bukidnon. It is a steamed cake made of grated young
corn with powdered milk, baking powder, and sugar mixed with water.
Naming the delicacy "binaki" is somewhat weird since the term sounds like
baki, which is the vernacular for frog, but it has nothing to do with frogs. The
assumption to why this delicacy is called like that is maybe because the corn
cake when wrapped with corn husk resembles frog legs.

Piñasitas, a pineapple-based product, is one of the famous delicacies in

Bukidnon-the pineapple capital of Asia and food basket of Mindanao. No
wonder why its emerging delicacies come from pineapple. However, aside
from pineapple-based products, organic rise-based products such as cookies,
barquirice, pop rice, chicharice, etc. are also getting popular in Northern
Mindanao.

Tourism

One can visit some of these ancestral territories like the Talaandigs in
Barangay Sonco in Lantapan town where an entire community of people are
actively working to revive and preserve the ancient ways of the tribe. The
customary law is enforced in this area. There is a school in the territory where
tribe elders teach their young how to learn and appreciate their traditional
embroidery, music, literature, arts, and dance.
customary law is enforced in this area. There is a school in the territory where
tribe elders teach their young how to learn and appreciate their traditional
embroidery, music, literature, arts, and dance.

For fans of weaving, Bukidnon never fails to impress as traditionally, visual

arts are expressed usually in weaving along with crafts, beadworks, and
embroidery, patchwork and earth paintings. You may look for the three
different kinds of weave- Tinilogas, Tigdaruwa, and Tigtatulo. Bukidnon clothing
is usually identifiable by its use of geometric shapes (Binitu-on, Binabangon,
and Kinabuka) with strong splashes of black, red, white and blue which is also
present with the traditional headdress called ‘panika’. For Bukidnon
embroidery, look for the pinamulaan which is made through a process called
the panulam.

From mid-February up to March 10 of every year, an ethnic cultural festival

is held in Malaybalay City to celebrate the gathering of culture and tradition
of the seven tribes during the Kaamulan Festival. The festival derives its name
from the Binukid word “amul” which means ‘to gather’. Started in 1974,
Kaamulan serves as a gathering of sorts like a datuship ritual, a wedding, a
thanksgiving, a peace pact or all of these combined.

Proving that Bukidnon is one big thrill destination, just recently opened is
Asia’s longest Dual Cable Zipline at the Dahilayan Adventure Park in Manolo
Fortich with dual carrying cables each stretching 840 meters from point to point
with an elevation drop of 100 meters and an estimated speed of 60-100
kilometers per hour!

Being gifted with such amazing natural wonders, Bukidnon, despite

being landlocked, is also home to many notable bodies of water like the
Napalit Lake- a 36-hectare lake by the foot of the Kalatungan Mountains in
Pigtauranan, Pangantucan. The lake is 80 feet deep with about 24 islets of
different sizes floating parallel to the direction of the wind. The largest of these
islets is at least 50 feet wide. The serene Lake Apo in Valencia City is lined with
lush vegetation hugged by the hills and mountains around it. Apo, a 24 hectare
lake with depths ranging from 17-26 meters, is a rift lake of circular shape atop
a mountain floor and said to be one of the cleanest in the entire Northern
Mindanao. Other lakes that abound in the provinces include the Pinamaloy
Lake in Don Carlos (50 hectares, guitar-shaped), and the Malagana Lake in
Malitbog which is home to wild ducks and teems with fish. Aside from lakes,
Bukidnon is also known for its rivers, the most famous is the Pulangui River
(Dologon, Maramag) and also the rivers of Siloo (Malitbog) and the
Bubonawan River- the latter with a waterfall measuring 100 meters, Check out
Monte Shanna Lake and the Mabuhay Lakes and the Badiangon, Tingag, and
Bindol Falls of Malitbog too.

In Malaybalay City (Sitio Lalawan, Barangay Dalwangan), there is a bird

watching tower which gives rare glimpses to a Philippine symbol- the rare and
endangered Philippine Eagle (one of the world’s biggest raptors) as well as
other birds like the giant scops, Philippine hanging parakeets, owls, fly catchers,
brahmine kies and many jungle fowls from Mt. Kitanglad ranges.

A visit to Bukidnon would never be complete without a trip to the Del

Monte Pineapple Plantation in Manolo Fortich, said to be one of the biggest
pineapple plantations in the world. The plantation was incorporated in 1926
and is one of the oldest and largest agro-industrial firms in the country. The
majority of the plantations’ products are exported all over world – Europe,
Middle East, USA and other parts of Asia.