Fort Pikit
Fort Pikit is a Spanish colonial era stone fortification which was built in what is now known as the town of Malidegao in Cotabato. The fortification consists of two towers installed with artillery batteries and a rubble wall which measures a side. It was intended to house a military officer, 60 infantrymen and 6 artillerymen by its Spanish builders.
It is situated at the back of the Municipal Hall of Pikit. on a hill facing the National Highway.
History
Fort Pikit was built in 1893 by the Spanish at the time the Spanish colonial government was actively launching a campaign against the Moro in Mindanao. When the United States took over the administration of the Philippines from Spain, the American colonial government gained control of the fort in 1902 and used it their own campaign in Mindanao. Still within the American colonial period, the Philippine Constabulary assumed control of the fort. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines of World War II the fort was seized by Imperial Japanese forces. The Allied forces regained control of the fort as part of their Eastern Mindanao campaign.After the war, the fort was used by the Philippine Army and later the Philippine Marines. The marines vacated the facility in 2007.
The fortification was declared as a national landmark, the first in Cotabato province in 2012.