Dole plantation, Polomolok

Polomok is a 1^st class municipality in the province of South Cotabato. It is an agro-industrial municipality located in the middle of General Santos City and Tupi. It belongs to the top 30 richest municipalities of the country because a large piece of its land is owned by the Dole Pinapple Plantation, giving multitudes of jobs to its locals and boosting its economic value. The name Polomolok was derived from the B’laan term “Flomlok” meaning hunting grounds.

Mount Matutum is a volcanic mountain. It is one of the favorite hiking destinations in the area, considered as a challenge to mountaineers and a haven to nature lovers. The mountain is covered with huge ferns, trees, and plants and it hosts lots of species of animals and plants, including the rarest, largest, tallest, and the most powerful bird in the world, which is the Philippine Monkey-eating Eagle. Around the mountain, you can see plenty of creeks with cool, fresh, and clear flowing water that comes from the hillside. It has a peak with a stunning view of the surrounding municipalities of the province. This mountain is protected, managed, and maintained by the indigenous people called Blaa’n.

Two monasteries can be found in Polomok. One of them is thec located in the foot of Mount Matutum. The Trappistine are the Cistercian Nuns who are living a life of Solitude and Prayer. Their daily work consists of praying in perpetual silence in the isolated place where they are far from the noise and distractions of daily life. It is a place of worship and meditation that breaths an atmosphere of silence. It is red-roofed monastery that stands majestically in the landscape and has an impressive architecture. The architecture is simple yet beautiful and intimate. These nuns support themselves by selling religious items, cookies, and postcards to their visitors.

Visiting this place will give you peace of soul and mind. Once you go inside, you will feel the holiness of the place and you will encounter a feeling of homecoming, no matter what your religion or background is. It is perfect for people seeking tranquility, reflection, and spiritual refreshment and the site also offers beautiful and natural scenes.

Another tourist attraction that can be seen in the municipality of Polomok is the pineapple plantation. It is also one of the reasons why it became popular and was dubbed as “Pineapple Country”. The pineapple plantation is owned and operated by Dole Philippines. The fields are stretched with pineapple plants that are awesome and attractive to see. The fields have a fresh, tropical smell of ripe pineapples. It gives you a breathtaking view that reminds you the beauty of the province. The pineapples are delicious and have a unique sweetness and tangy taste. They are consumed locally as fresh fruits and used to produce juice and slices for export. Everyone that visits Polomok always bring home pineapples which are freshly harvested from the fields.

One of the products of the Polomok that makes the place really proud is the Kafe’ Balos, the world’s rarest coffee brew. It is one of the world’s most expensive and most coveted kind of coffee. Kafe Balos is no ordinary coffee; it comes from an unusual source - the dropping of palm civet (a nocturnal, cat-like mammal) or “balos”. These civets are known to have the taste of only the sweetest red coffee cherries that contains the coffee beans. The coffee beans then pass through a natural processing or fermentation inside the civet's stomach which they believed to give the coffee its unique taste and aroma. The civet cat poops are gathered, washed, cleaned, and dried. Once it was dried, these are roasted into the right level of brittleness suitable for grinding and ready for brewing.

This municipality are splendidly gifted with pineapple products and processing, livestock resources (cattle, swine production, meat packaging), and furniture. They also have asparagus and cut flowers, cotton ginnery, corn vegetables and fruits. Its lands are abundant in agricultural products because of their fertile soil. They also have cold and hot springs and a beautiful landscape. This is also the reason why the local people learned to protect their mountains. It is because most of their livelihood come from it. Polomok's environment is truly a great gift of Mother Nature to them.