Salipada Pendatun

Datu Salipada Khalid Pendatun was a Philippine lawyer, military officer, and a statesman, being the first Filipino Muslim in history to hold these offices. He died on May 16, 1985 in Cotabato Province.

Contributions
During his tenure as a statesman in Philippine politics, especially when he was the governor of the then undivided Cotabato province, Cotabato province was by then the most prosperous province in the country, serving it as its "rice basket", with its capital bearing the same name was second only to Davao City as the most populous and economically prosperous city in Mindanao. Several towns were born in the province, and a number of them, i.e. Kidapawan, Buayan (now General Santos City), Marbel, Tacurong, and some others flourished and became economically prosperous that they become cities several years later. The province was also exceptionally peaceful before the Muslim insurgencies in Mindanao in the 1970s.

Legacy
The town of General Salipada K. Pendatun, Maguindanao was named after him.