Ang Dabawenyo

Great news for us down South!

Cebu Pacific, the leading domestic airline in the Philippines, has inaugurated its operations hub in Davao City last 8 May 2008, to further serve the island of Mindanao. Hopefully this will mean more air routes to the “missionary” destinations on the island. This is the carrier’s third hub, after Cebu and Manila.

The new hub now services 4 domestic destinations from Davao: Manila, Cebu, Iloilo and Zamboanga; as well as 2 international destinations: Hong Kong and Singapore. Cebu Pacific is currently the only Filipino airline offering flights from Davao to Singapore. The other airline servicing this route is Singapore Airlines’ regional carrier, Silk Air.

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This morning I was at a planning session for the promotions activities of the Kadayawan sa Dabaw festival. Marco Polo’s Art Boncato invited me just this morning to be a part of this committee. It was rather sudden and spur-of-the-moment, but I gladly obliged. I wouldn’t miss the chance of helping organize Davao’s own traditional festival.

I don’t want to jump the gun on the Kadayawan organizers, so I’m not going to divulge anything before the official announcements. But I would like to mention that this year is going to be different. For one thing, the younger generation is starting to take over the reins, and we’re bringing in fresh ideas.

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A pioneering effort in print media was launched today — a locally-published magazine intriguingly called m.

To quote its publishers, M is "the first-ever glossy travel and lifestyle magazine that will showcase the best that Mindanao has to offer. M features stories ranging from adventure destinations, culinary pursuits, nocturnal activities, unique fashion creations, beauty and wellness, gainful business endeavors, to little known secrets about this island paradise; it is the primary source of information on Mindanao’s contemporary lifestyle."

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Last weekend, Davao’s finest — the PNP Regional Office 11 — and the Task Force Davao military unit were able to apprehend an Al Qaeda poseur here in the city. Identified as Romie John C. Rosalia (according to this report), the authorities alleged that he was extorting money from corporations and individuals via email. He was caught at an Internet café called Quagmire (how very apt!) on Bonifacio street. Read more »

A new business paper is now circulating all over Davao City — The Edge Davao. It’s the first of its kind here: a newspaper that’s dedicated to business, investment and economy-centric news. And I’m part of it! I have been invited to handle the one-page “ICT hub” section, which is now the new home of my IT talks! column.

My section also has feature articles, and quick facts about the IT industry of Davao City and the region.

Aside from the ICT hub section, the paper’s other sections are: The Economy, Entrepreneurs, Vantage Points, SciTech, Competitive Edge, AgriTrend, Community Sense, and Games. The last one isn’t about video games — it’s more for sports, particularly golf and other sports that are popular among businessmen. Read more »

The old PTA Grounds, which was recently renovated and given a major makeover, is now known as “People’s Park.” The winner of the name-the-park contest is Romeo Sardon, 75, of Matina. He won the P50,000 prize money for having his entry chosen to be the park’s name from now on. Sardon is a retired electrician and seaman. Read more »

It’s been more than 6 months since Bankerohan Bridge (Gov. Generoso I) fell to ruin… yet today there’s not even a single pile driven to the ground for the new bridge. It’s as if the national government has no plans at all of restoring this vital infrastructure.

The Department of Public Works & Highways-Region 11 laments that there simply isn’t any money earmarked for the bridge. Wow… after half a year, still no action? It’s not a question of money. It’s a question of political will. Or the lack of it. Read more »

The old PTA Park, as everyone in Davao should’ve noticed by now, has undergone a major renovation, and is due to be completed in December this year. It’s so named because of its having been the grounds used by the Parents and Teachers Association of Kapitan Tomas Monteverde High School way back when. If I’m not mistaken, the Association office had such a huge “PTA” sign, and so people started calling the place that way.

Right smack in the heart of downtown Davao, the new park, as before, will offer residents and visitors a place to unwind, relax and take in the city’s sights and sounds. The nearly 4-hectare park is nestled in the center of 3 hotels (The Apo View, Casa Leticia and Royal Mandaya Hotel) and numerous restaurants. Once finished, I imagine it’s going to be the perfect place for a quick break during weekdays, and for longer, leisurely strolls during weekends. Read more »

I heard from a reliable source in the travel industry that the organizers of the Kadayawan sa Dabaw are seriously considering moving the festival’s dates! This is going to be a huge mistake, if it happens. Philippine festivals are probably our #1 tourist attraction: that is, it’s our best way of pulling tourist arrivals. What does this mean? Simple: visitors to Davao, especially those who come for Kadayawan, plan their vacations way ahead of August.

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Just when things were starting to look up for Davao, the bridge falls. Literally. Gov. Generoso Bridge (more popularly known as Bankerohan Bridge), after serving Davao for decades, cracked under the weight of the city’s steadily increasing vehicular traffic. But, isn’t it supposed to be good for a few more decades? Read more »