Maria Cristina Falls, Lanao Del Norte
Iligan City is just a two and a half hours drive from Opol, Misamis Oriental. It is a city truly blessed and nurtured by Mother Nature. It is protected from typhoons by natural barriers; its terrain is hugged by a long stretch of shoreline along the Iligan Bay. Its mountains and lush forests hide numerous waterfalls in its embrace, earning for itself the title “City of Waterfalls”. The most famous, enchanting and the most awesome of these is the Maria Cristina Falls which is the source of hydro electric power for most of Mindanao’s requirements.
Maria Cristina Falls is a waterfall of the Agus River on the island of Mindanao. It is sometimes called the “twin falls” as the flow is separated by a rock at the brink of the waterfall. It is located 8.5 kilometers away southwest of the city proper. Well-known for its natural beauty and grandeur, the 320 feet high waterfalls is also the primary source of power for the city’s industries and the whole Mindanao region. The falls powers the Agus VI Hydroelectric Plant, one of the several hydroelectric plants that harness Agus River. The power plant has a 200 MW potential capacity supplied by a water flow of about 130 cubic meters per second.
Most people believed that the falls origin came from the two beautiful sisters named Maria (the younger) and Cristina (the elder) who love each other very much to the extent that Maria gave everything she have to Cristina. They also loved their neighbor as they loved themselves. They are both good-looking and attractive maidens, and many Datus & Sultans came to ask for their hands in marriage, but the sisters refused.
However, there was an unhappy son of a famous Sultan living somewhere nearby Lake Lanao .He couldn’t find the girl that he really loved. He traveled around the lake until he saw the two maidens of the falls. He fell in love with the Maria and Cristina but the two sisters did not know whom he really loved. Days have passed and Maria realized that she loved the son of the sultan very much, which made her very sad and she went to the top of the falls and jumped. When Cristina her sister, found out that Maria was dead, she likewise went to the top of the falls and tossed herself down the deep ravine.
When the handsome young man discovered what happened and found the dead bodies, he buried them carefully under the falls and never married until he also died. He named the falls, Maria Cristina, after the two sisters he loved.
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