Gaily-decorated ancient Moro boats called “ginakit” are paraded at Sarangani Bay in Malapatan town as part of the 13th Pakaradyan Festival and 49th municipal founding anniversary. The indigenous ginakit is a main mode of transportation for Muslim royals and tribal chieftains around the inland waters of Mindanao during the pre-colonial and Spanish era.
The festival is named after a Maguindanaon word which means festivity and is often held with a “kanduli” or thanksgiving, and a celebratory “pagana” or banquet feast. The Festival also includes a street dancing contest, a land float parade and competition, and the launch of its “Mapya Malapatan” brand and tagline.
Malapatan was created in 1969 when it was carved out from Glan town which still part of South Cotabato province. Its name was coined from two ethnic Blaan words Malah and fatan, which meant place where pepper is abundant.
The town is known for the exquisite inaul hand-woven Maguindanaoan fiber which have found its way around the world, and is the home of Bai Estelita Bantilan, a Blaan igem mat weaver, who has been proclaimed Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan or National Living Treasure by President Rodrigo Duterte last year.