Nature · Datu Hoffer Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur
Sa-Wa River
A clear river pool about 7 feet deep in Sitio Tangkapa, Datu Hoffer Ampatuan.
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Heritage · Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur
Old Maguindanao Provincial Capitol
Also known as Maguindanao Provincial Capitol (Shariff Aguak).
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The place
Heritage in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur
The P218-million capitol the Ampatuans built in Shariff Aguak, about 400 m from their mansions.
Heritage
Traced to its sources since the guide was written.
Safety in Maguindanao del Sur
This is the area to arrange rather than improvise. Several municipalities carry standing advisories and a visible military presence, and clan disputes are a real and local phenomenon that outsiders read badly. Travel with a local contact who knows the specific town, coordinate with the LGU, and treat any plan that does not include those two steps as incomplete.
About this place
Shariff Aguak was the first capital of Maguindanao, but the capitol moved to Sultan Kudarat after the 1986 People Power Revolution. Andal Ampatuan Sr., elected governor in 2001, brought the offices back to Shariff Aguak and then built a larger, 3-storey capitol, occupied before the 2007 election and inaugurated in March 2009 in the presence of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. It cost P218 million, P50 million of it from her social funds, and stands about 400 m from the mansions of the Ampatuan clan; the governor's wing even has a jacuzzi.
After the Maguindanao massacre of November 2009 the building was used as a warehouse. Governor Esmael Mangudadatu, elected in 2010, governed from his hometown of Buluan instead; his successor Mariam Mangudadatu moved back in 2019, and in July 2020 it served as a COVID-19 isolation facility. When Maguindanao was split in 2022, Buluan became the capital of Maguindanao del Sur.
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A photograph released by the Philippine Army's 601st Infantry Brigade describes the old capitol as now housing one of the army's infantry brigades.
Before you go
- The building is described as an army brigade headquarters; ask permission before approaching or photographing it.
Where you’ll be
Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur
Sources
Where to sleep in Maguindanao del Sur
No lodging here is named by a public source yet. Ask the area’s tourism office, or stay in its main town.
More to see nearby
Everything in Maguindanao del Sur
Heritage · Datu Hoffer Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur
Limpongo Teduray crafts
A Teduray village in Datu Hoffer Ampatuan where women make and sell rattan and bamboo goods.
Nature · Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur
Kilantan Spring
A cool spring in Ampatuan, on ground the Teduray hold as a sacred hunting ground.
Memory · Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur
Ampatuan massacre memorial
The site in Sitio Masalay where 58 people, many of them journalists, were killed on 23 November 2009.
Best: Families and media groups gather at the site for the anniversary around 23 November