Road Trip Over 5 Provinces

We just got back from a road trip to the City of Koronadal, South Cotabato, where, along with my colleagues at the North Bukidnon Chamber of Commerce and Industry, I stayed for 4 days. This series of blogs will cover all four days and all the places we were able to visit.

DAY 1

We started moving at 4:00 am (from Camp Phillips in Bukidnon). It was important to keep to the schedule because we had a Chamber Management Seminar to attend at 1:00pm. Fortunately, we made good time (we had a well-versed driver) and arrived in Koronadal City, South Cotabato at shortly after noon. The roughly 8-hour drive brought us from Manolo Fortich, all the way through the provinces of Bukidnon, North Cotabato, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and finally, South Cotabato. Whew!

It is interesting to note that the extent of the rice production in South Central Mindanao is so much wider than that of Central Luzon. We drove for about 4 hours straight and saw nothing but rice fields, in varying stages of maturity. All in all, it was a pleasant ride, without much activity. The only signs that reminded us we were in Muslim territory were the Islamic monuments located at the entrance of each city as we passed through.

After the seminar, all the participating chambers were invited to have dinner at a local restaurant, Tiana's Cafe & Bar. The meal turned out to be sponsored by an aggressive presidentiable for the upcoming 2010 Elections (whose name I'll omit because I want to remain as colorless as possible). Unfortunately he was unable to be around but sent his campaign staff, one of whom was the President of the Sorsogon Chamber. The food was delicious and the company pleasant. As for the sponsor, I have no comment except 'Thank You for the meal.'