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Bill Fabianic | profile | all galleries >> Southeast Asia >> Philippines >> Trip to Sulu (Aug 1961) tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Trip to Sulu (Aug 1961)

Photos from a week trip to Jolo
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Grounded Japanese ship at Maubu Beach
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Hadi Abdulsabur13-Mar-2019 16:51
Thank you for sharing these wonderful photos of Jolo. It surely brings back happy memories of my childhood but unfortunately wiped out by the burning of the town in 1974. Hoping for peace in my hometown.
Ben Ngo 13-Sep-2016 11:49
Bill,

I'm a millennial and I have always tried to imagine how things were back in those days.I was surprise and delighted of what I saw here in your album. Something I would never see in in anyone's, I guess. Jolo right here seemed very promising but I don't wanna go down that path on why I dont think it isn't anymore. Well, at least not as of this moment. If you are still alive, I thank you for all of this! Kudos and God speed!

xo,
Ben
Efren Dayauon 30-Jan-2015 00:11
WOW! These photos surely transported me to Jolo of my youth. My father, who was PN enlisted man, brought us to Jolo in 1959 and lived there until 1965. I started my grade school at Notre Dame of Jolo at the Walled City campus from kinder to 2nd grade, then moved to the annex campus located at the old Mt. Carmel monastery site just beside the provincial hospital when I got to 3rd grade for convenience as we lived at Camp Asturias right next to the old PC Provincial Cdr's official residence. I concur with Mr. Francisco as well as the other posters in saying that Jolo was such a beautiful place where Muslims and Christians managed to live in relative harmony with each other. I really don't know what happened in the few years after we left when we got the startling news of the burning of Jolo which pained me no end. Anyway, thanks so much for these wonderful photos. You heaven sent, so God speed!
Dhemar 26-Jul-2014 00:24
wOw!!! what a nice place in 1960s
Thanks for posting this memories of Jolo, Sulu. =)
Guest 14-Feb-2013 19:25
Hi Bill.

Thank you very much for posting these pictures of Jolo in the early 60s. They're are really fascinating. I am doing a research about about an aspect of church history in Sulu.

Guest.
Gigi Yam 31-Dec-2012 20:07
Wow! Thanks for posting these pictures! Born in Jolo in the sixties. Lived in Gandasuli subdivision. Attended Sulu Tong Jin and left when civil war started. Googled Jolo now, and it does not resemble my last memories of Jolo. Looks very crowded and the Muslims are more prominent than what I used to remember. My family owned a pawnshop and a coffee house in Jolo. Used to frequent Maubu beach. I hope someday my kids can make the trip to Jolo so they can see part of their heritage.
MT 23-Aug-2012 10:11
Thanks Bill for posting these photos. My grandmother came from Sulu to Semporna, North Borneo(now Sabah) in early 20th century, and married my grandfather who was a North Borneo resident. The photos you posted here were taken around the same time my mother was born in Sabah. Anyway, I was fascinated to see how Sulu was back then as it provided a glimpse of how my ancestors lived their lives there. Sulu actually looked pretty much like Semporna, Sabah in the 60s (from the photos I've seen).
Datukiram 11-Mar-2011 14:37
the capitol site didn't improve. it became a zoo for godsake. who wants to go to the subah datu resort. its dirty overpriced and abusayaff haven
Guest 10-Jan-2011 15:56
I’m 23 years old and happily living here in Jolo Sulu...i just want to say thank you for the photos and for creating this site Mr. bill...sulu really needs a good publication after all, it’s really a nice place to live in. like any other place it has conflict and negative sides/ issues but on the other hand it has also a positive side to which many people in the world doesn't know and doesn't realized. a lot views in the picture had change- some turns out better and some turns out good. Today, the capitol site has improved, it has lights, artificial and singing fountains, flowers, and pine trees; the view to the mountain side is really awesome, to its beauty I feel like I’m not in Jolo. Then, we already have a beach resort; subah datu where you could stay and enjoy the exquisiteness of nature, and the cool breeze from the Sulu Sea. Then we have “Maubuh Beach” that takes only a few minutes riding a tricycle from the town- there you could enjoy the mouth watering “Syura” that cost only five pesos, pastil, ukoy, bang-bang sug and many other Tausug delicacies. Of course not to mention the beauty of its wind sand, crystal clear water that is perfect for swimming. When you are looking for Boracay-like beach, here in Sulu we Have Quezon Beach! The powdered white sand, clear water, breath taking view is at its facet. Then if you like to see the Zizag Road of Baguio City, I recommend you ”Bud Datu” only you have to be accompanied with military for safe and security. Sulu is rich in Natural resources both marine and agricultural; it has a very unique and sophisticated beginnings, it is rich indistinctive culture, beliefs and traditions…. How I wish that people in the world could see that!
Marianita Ybiosa Castillo 11-Jul-2010 10:07
Mr. Bill, i was so thankful for the old photos especially our Notre Dame of Jolo for Girls. I reminisce the joy moments in my elementary, high school and college days. Well though recently there are lots of new development in my hometown, what I really appreciated is the view especially night time in the capitol site. ang ganda talaga....
Atty. Vic Francisco 19-Nov-2009 03:57
Dear Bill - your pictures of the town of Jolo and its wonderful people certainly brought back fond memories of the years I and my family spent there, from 1954 to 1966. They were the most wonderful years in my life.

The photos showing the Catholic church, the bishop's residence and a part of the old cleric's building were all taken from right across the Rizal Plaza, to be exact from Serantes St., where our residence used to stand. And, so with the Notre Dame High School building farther to the right, where I graduated in 1958 from high school and in 1964, from college. Most of the hollow blocks used in the construction of the Notre Dame gymnasium, for your information, were made by the students of Classes 1956, '57, and '58 - give or take a year, under duress as part of our Industrial Arts subject.

Your news clipping taken from the Sulu Star particulary caught my attention. I was a staffer of that provincial newspaper under Fr. Cutberth Billman, together with Mr. Celso Guiang (E-in-C),Tibing Asaali (now a judge the Sharia Court (did I get it right?) and Juhan Abdurasad(now also a RTC judge). Former Philippine senator Santanina Rasul was our society columnist for the column "Stardust." There were also the sisters Sofia (now Mrs. Zuluaga) and the ebullient Carmen Abubakar (now a professor at the University of the Philippines). Ooops, forgot to mention Mr. Milan Laput, the workhorse of the staff!Last I heard, he was in Dapitan.

Jolo was a beautiful place! It can be again, if only we can set aside our prejudices and be tolerant of each other, living not as muslims or christians, but as Filipinos under one nation.

Thanks for the memories!



Fahkriemar Limpasan 26-Sep-2007 08:34
No more need to send me by the way, i just right-click then save image as.. again thanks for the pictures..
Fahkriemar Limpasan 26-Sep-2007 08:27
Mr. Bill,

Thanks for the pictures. They're awesome. i was born in august, 1985 in Jolo, 24 years after you took these pictures. i continue to lived there until i was 16. i would go home occassionaly there but i am now staying in zamboanga city. My grandparents used to tell me and my siblings that Jolo was very beautiful before the 1973 incident which razed the entire town to the ground. looking at these pictures, i start to pity myself. Sadly, Jolo today is not anymore as pleasing as that of 1961.

by the way, some updates...

* the maubuh beach is not anymore as sandy as in the pictures
* there's no more PAL flight to Jolo. this was discontinued during the PAL issue of 1999 (if im not mistaken) when it was rumored to stop operation in the philippines. only SEAIR flights are available at present. and the runway is already in pavement
* what's left of the grounded japanese ship in Maubuh Beach at present is only the bottom part.
* Notre Dame Gymnasium still looks the same from the outside
* Sulu Tong Jin School is not anymore operating since 1999 (possibly 2000, couldn't quite remember)
* i couldn't not ascertained where exactly is your hotel situated. was it near Rizal Park?
* as for now Notre Dame High School, i am not sure if it is Notre Dame of Jolo College today
* pedicabs are still very rampant in Jolo. The arrival of motor tricycles in 2003 (if memory serves right) there caused passenger jeepneys to be near-obsolete.
* nothing much has changed in the City Hall. its still the same. although, many buildings are now surrounding it.
* did you took the pictures of Muslim cemetery in Gandasuli? if so, then that place is already crowded with tombs.

Again, thanks for hte wondeful pictures. they're food for the soul for someone like me..

P.S.
Could you send me copies of those pictures? My email add is fahkriemar@yahoo.com. thanks in advance.
David Yu 21-Jun-2007 07:18
Hi Bill,

My trip there was about 30 years later than yours, the airport still looked exactly the same. Viewing your pictures felt like going through the time capsule. But the security was worse than before, the airport was heavily guarded by military. Amazed how could you convert the old negatives into such excellent digital ones. Salute.
Rod Garcia 28-May-2007 04:58
Bill,

I was not even three years old when you took these photos. We lived in Jolo until I was 13. My memories and recollection of Jolo are vague but these photos recalled what I remember of the place which reoccurs in my dreams. Thanks for taking these photos some 47 years ago and for saving, scanning and sharing them with us.

Rod Garcia

P.S. To the previous poster (Errol): We lived in a house on Scott Road that was owned by your father (?) Calvin.
Errol S. Navata 04-Jun-2005 04:17
Bill,

Is it possible that the picture of the Jolo Waterfront is a mirror image? I've noticed that both the Truck Driver and Pedi-cab Operator are on the right hand side? The mountains in the background appear to be in the wrong position as well?

By the way, I was also at the 1961 National Jamboree in Zamboanga City with Mr. Willie Torres. I do recognize some of the guys in the "Native American" costumes, especially, one Adan Araham. He was also in some of the pictures taken in Jolo.

The pictures taken at the airport sure brought back memories. I completely forgot that the landing strip was not paved then and that's where we had our high school military drills and softball games. I also graduated from the same school with Mr. Torres's children; in fact the same year with Eleanor, the one with glasses in white uniform and green "tie", back in 1962.

I especially appreciated the following:

1. The shot of the Notre Dame Gymnasium with the high school girls in the foreground and some boys in the background queuing up for their wooden rifles;
2. Christian vocational school (Notre Dame of Jolo High), my old school;
3. Pictures of Boy Scouts in the plaza with the old wooden Roman Catholic Church, Bishop’s residence and parts of the old convent and Notre Dame High School in the background;
4. Scout Leaders again with the Notre Dame High School in the background. Incidentally, the tall guy immediately to your left in the blue uniform is a relative of mine;
5. The group picture with the two priests seated and a lot of familiar faces including my Grand Uncle, next to Mr. Torres, and Brother Alfred George, the Marist Brother at the other end who was our school principal;
6. Grounded Japanese ship which was a part of the Maubu Beach landscape for a long time;
7. The old D.C. 3 airplanes flown by the Philippine Airlines which were the only ones able to land in Jolo at the time. It reminded me of how tricky it was to get to the front seats with the “inclined floor” and no fun either with the lack of air-conditioning before take-offs.

Thanks much for sharing these mementoes with us.

Errol Navata
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