Cast Away in the Islands of Tawi-Tawi

The world is a box full of amazing surprises. It is worth opening.

I always keep a list of places I would want to step foot into. And sometimes, my list includes the farthest, the hardest and the places less explored.

Tawi-Tawi is an island that can be found in the southernmost part of the Philippines. It has 107 island and islets and it shares sea borders with Malaysia. The area is rich in marine culture and is considered the center of marine biodiversity. It's only 2% of the worlds oceans but it has the highest number of marine species.

Tawi-Tawi is also one of the provinces under Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. It is tagged as the most peaceful part of the region but the old notion still questions the peace and security. The notion affects the tourism and development of the area. But the province has a lot to offer in terms of tourism. It has fine white sand beaches 10x than those found in Boracay and wonders of nature that is truly a wonder.

Going around Tawi-Tawi is not as easy as going to Cebu or Palawan. It takes a lot of resources and energy to get there. I was lucky enough to be part of an expedition to make a film about Tawi-Tawi and to document the rich culture of the islands last May 2014. This is one of the hardest, unforgetable and maybe the most challenging trip I have ever experience so far.

Aboard BFAR-MCS 3009 with the Philippine Coastguards, BFAR Officials and a team of filmmakers, we travel from Zamboanga to the islands in Tawi-Tawi with the excitement and fear of what awaits us.

The islands that I luckily step foot into are the following:

Mapun, Tawi-Tawi

Mapun Municipal Hall

Also known as Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi, Mapun is an island municipality. Inhabiting in the island is the Jama-Mapun (people of Mapun). The island is approximately 16 hours by sea from Zamboanga and it is actually closer to Sabah, Malaysia. Getting there by lantsa or passenger boat happens only once a month depends on the weather. 

During courtesy call

During our courtesy call with the local officials, the constituents of every barangay shared to us the problems they have in the municipality. Some of the problems brought up were the transportation going to mainland. Since they are close to Sabah, it's best to get their supplies and stocks there instead of going to Zamboanga. Problem is, Sabah requires passport to enter the border.

We were invited to witness a traditional Jama-Mapun wedding when we were there. I noticed that it seems like everyone is invited in celebrations like this.

Old lady playing gongs

Bangcauan Island

My most favorite island.

Near Mapun is a small island also known as San Miguel Island. This is the island where I would want to go back to if given a chance. I felt like I was in a real paradise when we were there. It was like a magical wonderland that offers a surreal view.

There were 4 people guarding the island when we went there. They are turtle rangers paid by the government to guard the island and protect the turtles nesting in the area. Seagulls live here and they are not afraid of people going near them. No accomodation, no comfort rooms, no electricity, no nothing. Just the sound of the seagulls at night and the calm waves. Simply back to basics.

Sunset Limited

The coastguards brought this baby seagull with them because the rangers told them that once this baby falls off the tree, their mother won't feed them anymore and will let them die.

Seagull in the island

TURTLE ISLANDS

Turtle islands is composed of 400 islands. It is right at the edge of the international treaty limits separating the Philippines to Malaysia. ( http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5032/ )

At night, turtles are like human beings too stolling at the seaside looking for place to nest their eggs.  

• Baguan Island

• Taganak Islands

Taganak Island is the backdoor exit of the Philippines to Malaysia. For those who knew already what I mean, good for you. 

• Lihiman Islands

Going to this side of Turtle islands is challenging in its own way. The boat we were in was small so we endured an hour of big waves. It was like riding a roller coaster in an open sea. The coastguards with us were cursing all the time saying they might end up barren.

We were advised to sail back to Taganak before 2pm to avoid the much bigger waves. 

The only mud volcano in the Philippines can be found here. And I bet no one took a picture of it ever. Some of the locals don't even know there's a mud volcano in their island. We hiked up to the crater for almost 3 hours. 

Me taking a video of the crater. The place where I am standing is the lava-like in ordinary volcanoes. It's summer so its dry.

kids in Lihiman with me in pink.

Sibutu, Tawi-Tawi


According to locals Sheik Makdum is the first shrine ever built in the Philippines. It was built to honor Sheik Makdum, the first missionary who introduced Islam in Tawi-Tawi.

Sheik Makdum Shrine

Sitangkai, Tawi-Tawi

Sitangkai is the Venice of the South. Eh... well because of the floating market and that feels but the local government give more attention to this island. Aside from the problems in water, waste management is also a problem.

With Philippine coastguards and production team.

Ever wonder how fun it was to climb that mosque without using the stairs inside? Hmm?

So we did climb up and it was AWESOME.

The 10 days Tawi-Tawi expedition was a life changing experience. I had fun, I got tired and whiny, I got tanned and sometimes because of water shortage didn't shower but I learned so many things. I had the chance to open my eyes wider to the things I didn't know existed. I might look back at these pictures years from now and try to remember the names of the people I've met but one thing I can't forget is that once upon a time in my life I traveled to a place that some people didn't know even existed. And with that I opened a huge box of surprises.