The Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary (110,000 hectares) in Agusan del Norte is a forbidding place. A pump boat ride through the marsh is quite an experience for a first-timer, like something out of a Joseph Conrad novel (think “Heart of Darkness”). The muddy waters are normally just six feet deep during summer, a Manobo lumad told me, but rise to 20 ft or more during the wet months, and sometimes overflow on the banks. You are surrounded by varied species of trees, mangroves and foliage in wild profusion. Migrant Visayan and Manobo communities live in cottages on stilts along the banks; the Manobo children screamed with delight when I waved at them from the boat.

Guerrero, A. M. (2022, July 24). Tales from my travel: From Basilan to the Spratlys. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. C2.