Heritage · Pagalungan, Maguindanao del Sur

Tomb of Datu Udtog Matalam and the Old Mosque

Also known as Old Mosque of Pagalungan.

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The place

Heritage in Pagalungan, Maguindanao del Sur

The tomb of a former governor of the old Cotabato province, beside an old mosque in Pagalungan.

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

The tomb of Datu Udtog Matalam Sr., the first elected governor of the old Cotabato province, stands beside an old mosque in Pagalungan. The provincial government describes the 2 structures, side by side, as illustrating the old history of Central Mindanao, and credits Matalam with building harmonious relations between Muslims and Christian settlers in the region.

Matalam is also remembered for the manifesto he issued on 1 May 1968, 2 months after the Jabidah massacre, declaring the Muslim Independence Movement, which sought an independent state of Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan. Pagalungan itself was the capital of the old Cotabato province from 1966 to 1973.

Other landmarks from his time are nearby. The old NAWASA water tank, built while he was governor and declared a historical landmark by the town, is now home to thousands of bats. The old provincial jail is used as an evacuation centre, and the red house of the old Rural Bank of Greater Cotabato has been kept as a heritage site.

What to do

See the bats at the old NAWASA tank
The old water reservoir, built in Matalam's time and declared a municipal historical landmark, shelters thousands of bats.
maguindanaodelsur.gov.ph
Look at the old Rural Bank red house
The former Rural Bank of Greater Cotabato building is kept as one of the town's heritage sites.
maguindanaodelsur.gov.ph

Before you go

Dress modestly: cover shoulders and knees, and women should bring a headscarf. Remove shoes before entering the prayer hall and avoid prayer times, especially Friday midday prayer.
Ask the family or the caretaker before entering the tomb area.