Cotabato, the capital of Maguindanao Province is located on the north side of Rio Grande de Mindanao's delta. Cotabato is the commercial center of southwestern Mindanao.

Cotabato Valley is one of the country's major agricultural regions. Migrants from Luzon and Visayas settled here since the beginning of the 20th century. Its important crops are rice, maize, sugarcane, and coffee. National roads and highways connect Cotabato through the valley to most of the cities and towns of Mindanao.

PAL flies between Manila and Cotabato once a day.