Cotabato City marks 59th year
Fanfare and pageantry mark the 59th founding anniversary of Cotabato City, the center of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), until the end June.
Located in Maguindanao, Cotabato came under more international influences than other parts of Mindanao.
By the early 19th century, roads and ports laid the foundation for modern infrastructure. The Spaniards eventually established a Christian settlement and military post. Cotabato City became Pueblo de Cotabato. The reign was shortlived when Datu Piang led the attack against the Spaniards and massacred Christians at the turn of the 20th century.
After the war, Cotabato City became a first-class municipality and one of Mindanao’s most progressive communities. It was proclaimed a chartered city on June 20, 1959 under Republic Act 2364.
The 2018 celebration kicked off during the Philippine Independence Day with daily cultural presentations, organized by the Department of Education, at the City Plaza which run through June 19. The Cotabato Toy Fair at the City Mall will run from June 14-17.
Sports competitions – taekwondo, table tennis, jiu jitsu, super fights and lawn tennis – will be held today in different venues. Tomorrow Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi’s Culinary Competition will be held at the People’s Palace while the Sayaw, Cotabato dance workshop and dance competition will be staged at the CCSPC Gym.
More sports events will happen on June 17: Padyak Takbo Para sa Turismo at the People’s Palace and a boxing tournament at City Mall. Between sporting events on that day are entertainments such as the Cosplay Competition at City Mall and PaBingo sa Plaza at the City Plaza. A city celebration is incomplete without a beauty and brains pageant such as the Mutya ng Cotabato Talent Competition at Southseas Mall. This is a preliminary event to the finals.
On June 18, there will be a whole-day boat race, Pagkuya ng Awang, at the Tamontaka River. Tinig Cotabato Choral Competition will be at the City Mall.
Free legal services will be offered at the People’s Palace on June 19. Meanwhile the twoday competition of the best flowerhorn fish, titled Clash of the Kings, will be shown at the City Mall. The 2018 Mutya ng Cotabato Pageant will climax at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex
The founding day celebra- tion on June 20 will begin with a military parade in the morning and the formal launch of Sayaw, Cotabato the annual indigenous dance festival, showcasing the diversity of the city’s ethno-linguistic groups as well as modern influences. The Davao-based DayBreak Band will perform at the City Plaza. There will be a Halal Industry Development Forum at the Alnor Convention Center. founded in 2001 by chairwoman Zhang Gil-Jah in South Korea.
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