Davao City

I love Davao City.

Let me count the ways

 Davao City is a city where both mountains and sea are a few minutes away. It is one of few areas in the Philippines where we have forests and biodiversity in our Mount Apo. Because we still have old growth forests, this is ecologically significant in this era of climate change. Davao City is home to rare species and endangered species of plants and birds such as the monkey eating eagle. Most of all, we have people from organizations like Kapwa Upliftment Foundation under the leadership of Ms Alma de la Paz who are working to conserve these forests and for the protection and restoration of biodiversity. Their work is with indigenous peoples, migrants, the government of Davao City, the Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR), and civil society organizations such as the Foundation for the Phil Environment, Phil Eagle Foundation, among others. 

Davao City takes care of its poor, who also toil with blood, sweat and tears from sunrise to sunset in making Davao City beautiful and livable. The city is taking care of its poor, among others, through a new Shelter Plan and the creation of the Local Housing Board. I am pleased that we are able to connect to the Local Housing Board through fellows in civil society in our own project to help the informal settlers living in danger zones in Isla Verde, a public park that is also the site of strong storm surges due to monsoons that come every year. According to the Department of Environment & Natural Resources & its Mines & Geo-Sciences Bureau ( DENR- MGB), the Isla Verde sandbar is a young soil formation which is a result of a combination of silt or sediment deposits which was carried by water from our mountains during flood and by the action of the strong water waves. As a young soil formation it is not safe for a permanent human settlement. There is also a legal indication that the whole area is part of parks and playground Davao City has opened relocation sites for those affected by the June 29, 2011 flood and for other informal settlers who are living in danger zones. These relocation sites are in Los Amigos, Catalunan Grande, Panacan, etc. Davao City has already organized its Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (DRRMC) and we are looking forward to the passage of the DRRMC ordinance so that funds will be allocated for vulnerability assessments & community based disaster risk reduction trainings. 

The kind of peace that we enjoy in Davao City did not come in a flash. It has evolved from a time when Davao City was described as some killing fields in the early eighties. So, our kind of peace is a reaction of that era. Anyway, according to official figures the crime rate in Davao City in 2012  is 0.8 in every 10,000 persons per month. Davao City is emergency ready. Our Central 911 is programmed to respond to all kinds of emergency : medical, fire, police assistance for both natural and man made calamities. Of course, the issue of extra judicial killings ( EJK) is still an unsolved phenomenon and deserves our utmost concern. 

Davao City is multicultural. Multiculturalism is and should be a big project in Davao City and it is a way to promote peace in Mindanao and in the entire country. We are continually proud of the Davao City Reproductive Health Clinic ordinance, the first in the country. And, so it really baffled us why our Congress took too long to legislate the national reproductive health measure. The national reproductive health bill was languishing in Congress for the longest time & it was a relief when it finally became a law.  

Davao City promotes project by and for women using the principles of fair trade. One example is the Women’s Market by Oxfam & the Mindanao Commission on Women during the 2012 Founding Anniversary of Davao offering food and wellness products produced by women from all over Mindanao where “ you can buy fresh fruits and vegetables; rootcrops such as camote; fresh seafood like crabs, squid and seaweed; luyang dilaw (turmeric); organic rice; fruit jams; tablea; banana chips; rice and corn coffee and gumamela tea; lemongrass and ginger granules and coconut sugar; dried boneless bangus and cooked dilis; vinegar; passion fruit juice; malunggay polvoron and suman; embutido and bottled bangus pate; homemade peanut butter; chili sauce; and many more.”


 Finally, Davao City’s anti-discrimination legislation for the benefit of marginalized sectors which also includes a reference to sexual orientation, gender identity & expression (SOGIE) has come out as one of  the first ordinances  of its kind in the country. 

Photos credit : Henrylito Tacio