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Discover Davao City...The city of Bloom. From your arrival at the newly opened Davao International Airport, From your favorite seafood dishes to
the island hopping mania. Discover Davao as it implores its beautiful and majestic Waling-walings and the rare Philippine Eagles. From different shopping
malls to the first class hotels and restaurants, Davao will let you fly into your dreams. Come on! and discover Davao City, the city in Bloom!
The Philippines and the Philippine Flag
What can people say about Davao City:
If one to believe all that is written about Mindanao in the newspapaers nowadays, one cannot help but imagine the place to be a veritable war zones where
"guns, goons and sudden deaths" are the order of the day. Or that being snatched into the lair of bandits is as common as having your car impounded for
illegal parking. Like its neighboring cities Zamboanga and Cagayan de Oro, Davao has had its share of bad publicity spawned from notorious crime incidents
which were deemed political or otherwise.
Half-expecting the place to be swarming with swaggering Terminators and Robocops, Insight Philippines was pleasantly surprised to discover a bustling
city of friendly people, full of helpful bystanders who would show you the way back to your hotel, and honest taxi cab drivers who would fork out the exact
change of your fare.
What started out as a project to include only part of Davao in this website's issue has evolved into a major effort to solely focus on Davao alone. "Let's make
it Davao," or as the Visayans would say it, "Dabaw 'ta, 'bay!" sums up the interest in the city's potential as a major tourist and business destination
in Mindanao.
-Gigi A. Jamiro - Associate Editor Insight Philippines
Musings of an Inkslinger: Orion stands watchful tonight. The assembly of stars and suns that shape his constellation hang placidly
above the city streets and mountainsides. The star Rigel shines brightly on his left heel. Overhead, red rain clouds flee from cold winds, smothering everything
they pass. Already the twins Castor and Pollux havbe been lost in their wake and not a trace of the bull is left for eyes to detect even an echo of its glimmer.
Only the hunter remains in his vigil.
Far below Orion seated in a poolside deck chair, I watch as the cold night winds ripple across the water's surface, creating distorted, Monet-esque reflections of
the full moon and the night sky. Save fot the common noise of traffic three storeys below, the evening is serene. There are no bombs exploding. No gunfire to
punctuate the silence. All is quiet except for the sounds of a city slowly winding down at the end of the day.
The city is Davao. Unlike the reports and news flashes that sometimes come to us uninvited from the media, there is no war going on here. Fact is, it's like any
other place. But I dare say that Davao holds a charm and a vibrancy that contrasts sharply against the ennui of other large metropolises going about its business.
The rather bellicose reputation that Davao has been associated with is actually a misconception. A false face fashioned and founded by a distorted fixation on
negative publicity from the area and a poor knowledge of the southern Philippine geography. Every day, we take in reports concerning rebel clashes, public mayhem,
and periodic confrontations between rebels troops and the military in a province in Mindanao, and already we jump to the conclusion that the situation is also true
in Davao.
Not at all. Absolutely not at all.
The real Davao is protean. It's true face is not just a single visage, but a treasure of colors, textures, functions and shapes.
This patchwork image of Davao would translate to a face whose skin is the fine white coral sand of its beaches, tinged with the blush of fiery sunsets. Its hair would be
lush green tresses of coconut and banana leaves, wherein sprays of Orchids and Waling-waling would bloom and nestle. Its scent would be an olio of ripe fruits, from the tart
sweetness of mangoes, pomelos, mangosteens to the punget richness of Durian. Atop its head, on its ears, and around its neck are a dozen different samples of tribal finery
from the ethnic Mandaya, Bagobo, Manobo, T'Boli, Mansaka, and B'laan. Its tongue would speak the parse-like language of the Cebuanos, but be comfortable enough to switch
to Pilipino or English, however it may suit the occasion.
This particular testimonial of Davao City assumes a two-fold purpose. It is, primarily, a sharing of a journey of discovery. Our two trips to this lovely seaside city is
both a revelation and a marvel. We could not believe how beautiful it all was and how deluded we were when we first arrived with our notions. We witnessed, first-hand, the
true and awesome face of Davao. And thus, the second purpose is fulfilled: a gesture of homage to a wonderful city and to its friendly people, the Dabawenyos.
Keech A. Hidalgo- editor-in-chief of Insight Philippines
If you want to pose your testimonial about Davao, it may be positive or negative, feel free to email us! just send your email to this address: renzy_benzy3100@yahoo.com,
renz_marione@yahoo.com or text us in +639177029188 for comments and suggestions.
Epilogue |
The Land |
The History |
Going to Davao |
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