Bansalan is a small town, with a total land area of only 20,770 hectares. It is subdivided into 25 barangays and is located at the boundary between the provinces of North Cotabato and Davao del Sur. It is about 72 kilometers south of Davao City and is very accessible by land transport. The town is sandwiched by two cities: Kidapawan and Digos.
“This is probably the reason why progress in my former town is so slow,” wrote Rispens-Noel in her column, ‘Roundtrip: Bansalan-Holland.’ “Vehicles do not linger long in Bansalan. Passengers from North Cotabato are eager to reach Digos or Davao City, while passengers bound for North Cotabato are raring to reach Kidapawan City and farther to Cotabato City. It has never been a place where passengers stay longer for one reason or the other. Business activities remain in the hands of the local enterprising people. And so, the town remains largely rural and agricultural and still waiting for a miracle for the local economy to pick up.”
There are always two sides to a coin. In a way, being a laggard in development can also be a blessing in disguise. As a matter of fact, Bansalan has been touted as a “green town” for being “environment-friendly.”
For one, it is the birthplace of the internationally-known Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT). “The system is a simple, low-cost, and timely method of tilling the fragile uplands, which comprise about 60 percent of the country’s total land area,” explains Roy C. Alimoane, the current director of the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC) Foundation, Inc. “SALT helps protect the soil from erosion and leaves of nitrogen-fixing trees and shrubs are used as fertilizer for crops and feeds for livestock.”
The MBRLC is located in barangay Kinuskusan, just 10 kilometers away from the town proper. Actually, it’s a training center for various sustainable farming systems. Considered the “Disneyland of agricultural lovers,” people from all over the country travel to this place just to learn the modern technologies it offers.
At MBRLC, you can learn how to make FAITH (Food Always In The Home) garden and to sustain your farm by adopting the SALT system and its three other modifications: Simple Agro-Livestock Technology (SALT 2), Sustainable Agroforest Land Technology (SALT 3), and Small Agro-Livelihood Technology (SALT 3). You can also learn how to milk dairy goats, harvest tilapia, and graft fruit trees, among others.
For developing these technologies, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) awarded the center “in the area of agricultural production” in 1987. In 1991, the regional office of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recognized MBRLC with a World Food Day Silver Medal for its contribution in “mobilizing people’s participation in tree planting and sustainable forest resources management.” Earlier, in 1985, its former director, Harold R. Watson, was given the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for peace and international understanding for promoting the technologies in various parts of Asia.
Speaking of Asia, the center houses its affiliate, the Asian Rural Life Development Foundation (ARLDF). “Our main purpose is to help develop and uplift the standard of living of the poorest of the poor in Asia,” explains Alimoane, of the foundation which was launched in 1988.
Through the foundation, the staff has trained more than 10,000 people from Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and South America. Trainees have included farmers and high-level officials, Christians and Hindus. “Aside from training, they also learned more about our country and our culture,” says Alimoane.
A few distance walk from MBRLC is the Mount Carmel International Convention Center. Every year, thousands of students from nearby provinces flock to this convention center for any of the following activities: camping, learning, wedding, and parties. “The place is quiet, far from the madding crowd, and is conducive to learning,” says Tito Felongco, the center’s manager.
Here are some advantages of staying at the convention center: There’s fresh air. You can do your jogging early in the morning without people staring at you. Or, you can enjoy walking under the mango trees.
Just near these sites is the Lao Integrated Farm in the adjacent barangay of Eman. If you love durian (described by a Westerner as a fruit that “smells like hell but tastes like heaven”), then you should not miss visiting this place. It is owned by Attorney Benjamin Lao, who planted 700 durians in his five-hectare farm. Other fruits you can find in the farm include mangosteen, rambutan, and lanzones. He also raises goats (purebred and upgraded). His fruits are grown organically as he uses goat manure as fertilizer for his fruit-bearing trees.
A few years back, Lao’s farm has become a model and earned for its owner the Outstanding Coconut Farmer award given by the Department of Agriculture. “What I want to convey here is that government service is never a hindrance to engage in other income-generating activities like farming,” said Lao, who was with the Bureau of Immigration in Davao City at that time he was bestowed the honor. During weekends, he comes to the farm.
Other areas to visit while in Bansalan are the Mainit Hot Springs in barangay Managa, Balutakay (where vegetables like cabbages, carrots, cauliflowers, and onions are grown), and Tinago and Angel Falls (which can be visited while on the way to Balutakay).
Every September, the town also celebrates its Bansaulog (the word “Bansa” is taken from Bansalan while “saulog” is the Visayan term for celebration). A week-long celebration is observed and it culminates with street dancing. Participants come from various schools, both elementary and high school.
The good thing about Bansalan is that its mayor, Edwin G. Reyes, is very supportive of the plan of making the town as a tourist destination. In fact, he has just appointed a tourism official and created a tourism council. “We have the potential of being one of the tourist destinations in the country,” he said.
The mayor’s other development plans also include: Agro-industrialization, infrastructure development, economic development program, agricultural development, social services program, peace and order and political stability, fiscal management and human resource development, responsive and participative governance, investment and marketing promotion, and environmental protection program.
According to legend, Bansalan got its name from a Bagobo chieftain (datu) named “Dansalan” whose tribal folks were the original inhabitants of what is now the town of Bansalan. A so-called reporting error by the early surveyors transposed the name to Bansalan and somehow became the official name. Bansalan is also previously called “Miral” – named after a river – and some local folks still refer to this former name.
Bansalan was once a barrio of the town of Santa Cruz. In 1949, it became a barrio under Digos. In 1952, Bansalan was separated from Digos and became a municipality under Executive Order No. 506 signed by then President Elpidio Quirino.
