Concrete under uprooted tree triggers treasure hunt in Cotabato town
Villagers mill around a thick tree that fell during a severe thunderstorm in Makilala, Cotabato on Thursday. WILLIAMOR A. MAGBANUA)
KIDAPAWAN CITY, Cotabato—Residents of Barangay Saguing in Makilala town, Cotabato province spent overnight Thursday digging underneath the roots of a thick tree felled by strong winds during a severe thunderstorm that day.
The freak weather brought down six thick trees planted in front of Saguing Elementary School.
Upon inspection, residents discovered a concrete that was overgrown by one of the fallen trees, and they believed that a treasure was buried in the site.
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The news spread fast throughout the village and in nearby Kidapawan City. But in the telling from one person to the next, the tale changed in that after the old sequoia or thick tree fell, a concrete box likely containing gold bars was exposed.
People, mostly from Barangay Saguing, arrived in the area bringing shovels, axes and even sledge hammers, and they helped each other in breaking the unmarked concrete measuring some four feet by six feet, in the hope of finding gold or any important object in it.
Unable to sway the determined treasure hunters against pursuing their spur of the moment venture, Saguing village chief Ian Caoagdan warned them to take extra caution in their digging and smashing the concrete.
Caoagdan also ordered village watchmen to secure the area because it is near the Cotabato-Davao national highway and known to be prone to accidents.
In all, the gold seekers wasted their brawn for some 11 hours until Friday morning, digging and breaking down the concrete piece by piece, only to find nary a treasure.
On Saturday, Caoagdan recalled tales from elders that there used to be a well in a part of what is now the elementary school. It was one of the sources of water for the villagers of old, until the width of the Cotabato-Davao highway was expanded to accommodate an increasing flow of vehicles.
He said that the concrete, mistaken to be hiding a treasure, may be the flooring when a pump was installed for the well.
After years of being abandoned, Caoagdan explained, the site was overgrown by vegetation, including by the mighty sequoia tree.
