The Legacy of Maria Cristina Falls

            Maria Cristina is a falls in Mindanao with a cultural, historical and economic legacy as we shall see. It is a falls famous falls for its beauty and majesty as seen in postcards and tourism promotion materials. It is huge. It is surrounded with mystery and myth as the Maranao epics would have it. It is powerful. It is also harnessed as a source of hydroelectric power in Mindanao.

            The one thing about Maria Cristina falls that is favorable to tourists is that, it is accessible from Iligan City about 10 minutes away from the city proper to Barangay Buruun. One will know he has reached the area by a large river bank and the strong flow of current washing towards the sea. From the cross section, it can be walked about 10 minutes sloping trek on smooth concreted roads and shades of trees. It is tucked and hidden in the folds of the mountain surrounded by giant and century old trees resembling a tropical rainforest.

Agus River and the Darangen Epic

            A visit to Maria Cristina falls is incomplete without a proper cultural perspective. It is not just something to see, it is also something to be appreciated and understood within the cultural traditions of the people inhabiting the area.

            The waters of the falls come from the Agus River. This river flows from its ultimate source which is Lake Lanao of Marawi City. From the great lake it courses its way downward to Iligan City to feed two major falls one of which is Maria Cristina falls. The majesty of the river in fact has made it a natural boundary between the two provinces of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte.

            Maria Cristina falls is a natural landmark with a mystical antiquity that has attracted even the olds of yore among the earliest peoples in Marawi City. A Maranao epic, the Darangen, draws a significant cultural attention to the river and the falls. The epic has it that the river was formed by Rajah Indarapatra one of the Datus of the Maranao Sultanate. Rajah Indarapatra and his brother Rajah Solaiman fought a human-eating giant monster named Omaca-an who is inhabiting Lake Lanao. The latter however died during the duel leaving Rajah Indarapatra to conquer and kill the monster alone. To give justice to the death of his brother, Indarapatra searched for his brother’s ring by turning over all the rocks and stones from the lake and out and away into the farthest land creating a natural outlet for the waters of lake to flow towards the sea through the new river. This is how the Agus River was formed and how the falls was also created. This epic has a significant historical and political implication on the ownership of the water and its tributaries which up to this time is recognized by the two provinces.

Legend of the Twin Falls

            Maria Cristina is a twin falls. There are two falls as you will notice in the picture because it is cut by a huge rock in between. With technology, the National Power Corporation can manipulate the flow by shutting off the water sources of the other twin and allowing a certain volume of water to flow into just one of the twins. Sometimes when tourists are lucky, they get to view the stupendous volume of water crashing through the pool. At other times there is only one, at ominous times there is none. In my case I’ve becoming lucky at times and not so lucky at times. But nevertheless it does not take the magic and spell of the falls.

            I have learned in grade school how the falls got its name with a legend about two beautiful twin sisters. The twin sisters are named Maria and Cristina. Beautiful as they were, both of them drew so much attention from the most eligible bachelors in town including sons of Sultans. Maria and Cristina however fell into an unfortunate love triangle by falling into the same guy. Upon learning this unfortunate circumstance, Maria, who did not want to hurt her sister she loved most jumped off the falls and died. As soon as Cristina found out about the fate of her sister, she joined her by jumping off the falls. That was how the falls got its name. So we will then see that on one side is Maria and the other side is Cristina and the rock that separates them may be the man they had both fallen in love with.

Nature Park

            Today, the surrounding area of the falls is turned into a nature park with picnic areas and ziplines and rock climbing adventure. The ziplines are attached to the tallest and hugest trees in the area which gives an exciting proposition to an adrenaline addict. There is a great biodiversity in the area and bat caves that distract water-hungry tourists. But the best advice for visitors is to bring a camera to take pictures of the falls on the viewing deck provided for by tourists. But please come on the weekends at 11 am for the scheduled “full-blast” showing of the twins. Crazy as it may but our white water rafting guide in Cagayan de Oro has tried rafting here and thinks that the experience however short was absolutely exhilarating. Swimming is absolutely prohibited in the area, so I suggest that from here go to Timoga Spring Pools to enjoy the cold waters and taste Iligan lechon and puso (rice in woven palm fronds). It is less than two-minute ride from the falls.