COTABATO CITY — Colorful boats adorn the country’s second-largest river system with thousands of people watching in awe as the Bangsamoro people celebrate the Shariff Kabunsuan Festival on Friday. The festival commemorates the arrival of Arab-Malay missionary Shariff Kabunsuan in mainland Mindanao over 500 years ago to spread Islam. The arrival of the Islamic preacher by boat at the mouth of Rio Grande de Mindanao, now bordering this city and Maguindanao del Norte, was reenacted on Friday, capping the weeklong celebration staged yearly by the officials of Cotabato City and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Decorated water vessels paraded along the bukana (mouth) of Rio Grande de Mindanao, the second-largest river system in the Philippines, on Dec. 19, 2025, to reenact the arrival of Arab-Malay Islamic missionary Mohammad Shariff Kabunsuan in Mindanao in 1515. Over 3,000 officials and employees of government offices paraded on foot from downtown proper to the bukana (river mouth) in Barangay Tamontaka prior to the staging of the “Guinakit” (convoy of colorfully adorned boats) fluvial showcase. The daylong finale of the festival was also livestreamed on various social media platforms. Customary, Dec. 19 has always been declared a special nonworking holiday in BARMM and Region 12 (Soccsksargen) to provide residents free time to celebrate the historic event. Cotabato City Mayor Mohammad-Ali Matabalao and BARMM Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua underscored the importance of the annual festival to the current socioeconomic and political landscape of Bangsamoro communities. The legendary Shariff Kabunsuan spread Islam through peaceful means that eventually ushered in the “unity in diversity” of Muslims, Christians and Indigenous tribes, Matabalao said. Macacua said the coming of the sheriff had shaped a Muslim leadership “with faith, cordiality and respect in history that we keep not only in books but in motions through us.” BARMM Trade, Investment and Tourism Minister Farsherina Mohammad said the annual celebration of the Shariff Kabunsuan Festival has become another major source of tourism promotion in BARMM, reminding at the same time the Bangsamoro people about the essence of peaceful and productive advocacies. According to history, Mohammad Shariff Kabunsuan and his seafarer-followers landed by boats at the mouth (bukana) of the Rio Grande de Mindanao, now bordering Cotabato City and Maguindanao del Norte, in 1515 to introduce Islam in mainland Mindanao. He came 200 years later after the arrival in Tawi-Tawi of Shariff Karimul Makhdum to spread Islam through the Sulu archipelago in the 13th century prior to the coming of the Spanish colonizers through the northern Philippines. Shariff Kabunsuan was born to an Arab sheriff father, a descendant of Islamic Prophet Mohammad, and a Malay mother. In 1521, he established the Sultanates of Maguindanao, Lanao and Iranun principalities, and revitalized trade between Mindanao and the Malay communities now characterizing Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. Kabunsuwan also formed alliances with royal families of Sulu, Borneo and Ternate.
