Tangub City: Christmas Symbols Capital of the Philippines

The red-soiled city of Tangub in northern Mindanao offers a unique Christmas atmosphere. Aside from being the home of perennial Sinulog grand champ Tribu Sinanduloy, Tangub is the "garden city" in Misamis Occidental for it is home to various species of blooms, e.g. orchids like the vanda sanderiana or waling-waling.

It, too, is the "Christmas Symbols Capital of the Philippines", drawing spectators every year from as far as Basilan in southern Mindanao to witness the glitter of literally a thousand and one bulbs lighting Christmas angels, the little drummer boy, symbolic stocking, Christmas tree, Yuletide log, candy cane, among many other Christmas symbols, represented at the city's public plaza; this, with multisectoral coordination.

Christmas with the Tangubnons, those peace-loving denizens of the northern portion of Mindanao, spells a whole lot of difference. True, Mindanao may be publicized for its more than 20-year-old insurgency problems in its "war-torn" fraction that have overshadowed stories of the gentle Tangubnons. Little did most of us know that Tangub City is a haven of peace in the Land of Promise.

Beautiful Tangub is a nice place to visit for the holidays. It is protected from the vagaries of monsoons and unfavorable winds by towering Mt. Malindang. The place experiences short dry season and is free from strong weather disturbances.

It covers about 16,572 hectares, holding 55 barangays with a population of over 46,000 people as of the latest survey conducted by the National Census Office. Its residents are mostly fisherfolk and farmers who are also into livestock raising, gaining support from the local government.

Aside from its most interesting feature which is the congregation of people at the city's public plaza for the annual Christmas symbols competition, another thing worth seeing, most especially for the adventure-seekers, is Mt. Malindang and its eco-tourism sites that invite visitors and dwellers to explore the area.

Recent infrastructure developments - such as road concreting - make Malindang accessible to the lowlanders. That makes it easier for them to commune with the spirit of Misamis Occidental's sky gods.