Kulaman River

This is Kulaman River. If you are traveling from the lowland towns of Sultan Kudarat, this body of water is the indication that you are entering the village of Kulaman, the seat of government of the municipality of Senator Ninoy Aquino. The river is the major vein that runs through the heart of Kulaman Plateau.

Kulaman River as seen from the bridge in the national highway. The photo at the top shows the water flowing toward the bridge, and the photo below shows the water flowing downstream, away from the bridge. Courtesy of M. Linan.

Local legend has it that the river is where Sultan Kulaman drowned in the seventeenth century. In the next paragraph is the story according to a paper by University of the Philippines professor Rosario Cruz-Lucero. It is written in Tagalog, and I translated it to English.

A long time ago, the old name of Kulaman River was Matihaw.  A long period of drought occurred. Matihaw River dried up. Kulaman dug up the mud in search of food, and he caught a fish. He informed his tribesmen of his find, and they happily went to the location of the fish. They slept there that night. A heavy rain suddenly came. Matihaw River flooded, and Kulaman drowned. That’s why the river is named after Kulaman.

It’s only the river and the village that are named after Kulaman. A whole town, too. Kalamansig (the town where Barangay Kulaman used to be a part of before becoming the capital village of Senator Ninoy Aquino in 1989 got its name from the phrase Kulaman suwayeg, which means “Kulaman in the river.”

A spot in Kulaman River. Motorcycles often pass through this shortcut, for the bridge is a couple of kilometers away from the center of the town. For five pesos, a “ferry,” made of bamboo poles tied together, can carry you and you vehicle across the river. A Manobo man propels the ferry forward by pulling on a rope tied to both banks of the river. The kid in the center is taking a bath and soaping his hair. Photo by M. Linan.