33rd Kadayawan Festival kicks off, highlights tri-people

Mayor Sara Duterte bangs the gong to officially open the 33rd Kadayawan sa Davao (photo courtesy of the City  Government of Davao)

Unity amidst diversity might as well be the theme of the 33rd Kadayawan Festival.

The peaceful co-existence and cooperation among its tri-people consisting of the Christians, Lumads or Indigenous Peoples and the Muslims has never been more evident as the festival kicked off Friday (August 10) at the Kadayawan Circle, Magsaysay Park.

Mayor Sara Duterte led the “Pag-abli sa Kadayawan” which was highlighted by a Holy Mass celebrated by Archbishop Romulo G. Valles who is also president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Unlike most festival in the Philippines that have religious origin, the Kadayawan sa Davao is a thanksgiving festival for the bountiful harvest in the city, It focuses not just on the city’s agricultural produce but also its rich culture specifically on the 11 tribes namely the Sama, Kagan, Maranao, Maguindanao, Iranun, Tausug, Klata Bagobo, Obo Manobo, Ata, Matigsalug, and Tagabawa. 

“Every year we celebrate Kadayawan but this year we have made it bigger and grander with more events lined up to encourage greater participation from Dabawenyos from all walks of life,” Sara said.

What made Kadayawan sa Davao the festival of festivals is its ability to provide a venue where the city’s tri-people unite to produce something beautiful.

Valles, who also joined representative from the city’s Indigenous Peoples and the Muslim community in their presentation of petitions, during the opening, was elated when he realized that the Muslims and Lumads were also present during the mass.

“We are not only a community of faith in Davao. I presume there are people who truly believe in God but in different styles and proclamations of faith,” he said. Mass is a beautiful tradition, he said, “but your presence here people of other faith is telling another beautiful truth in Davao that in prayer we can come together.”

Valles said he is touched by the manifestation in the part of the mass where we present our petitions to the lord, that is beautiful (referring to the presence of the Muslims and Lumads).

“There is fear, darkness in life but we in Davao are very hopeful, happy and resilient that everything will be Madayaw (good) and maayo (become better and will get by),” he said. He also recognized the limitations not just of the church but of the whole community to respond to difficulties like fire incidents, trouble and violence.

It can be recalled that the church has not given the administration of President Rodrigo R. Duterte a honeymoon period and has criticized the president for his anti-illegal drusg campaign.

Valles said many national church conventions are scheduled to be held in the city. This includes the next CBCP Plenary Assembly which, he said, is tentatively eyeing the city as a venue. The three-day CBCP 4th National Media Convention, with up to 80 diocese participants, was held in the city last week. 

“During the convention, a bishop said he supported the holding of the convention here and they were able to see that martial law is not actually felt here and it is very peaceful in Mindanao,” Valles said. They are beginning to see the other side of the story, he added.

Valles thanked the city for its support to the convention and said that by doing that, it helped show the real face of Davao to these people.

Kadayawan sa Davao is officially held from August 10 to 21 but it is usually a month-long celebration for the city.

City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) Generose D. Tecson said they expect this year’s Kadayawan celebration to attract more visitors given the city’s popularity not only in the Philippines but also in other parts of the globe.

The peak season for tourist arrivals in the city is usually during August during the Kadayawan festivity. Tourist arrivals during the Kadayawan has continuously increased since 2016 when it was recorded at 171,851 and in 2017 at 185,660.

The city expect this year’s Kadayawan celebration to attract more visitors.  Kadayawan Festival Director Renato Gatchalian, Jr. said around 35 visitors from HongKong have confirmed their booking for the Kadayawan experiential rides. 

Kadayawan sa Davao not over yet

The City Tourism Office will only be able to quantify Davao City’s gains from the conduct of the Kadayawan Festival 2013 after August 31, 2013 since there are still festival-related activities that will be conducted up to the end of the month.

“We are still coordinating with the hotels as to their occupancy rate during the Kadayawan Festival but until the festival-related activities are over then that will have to wait,” City Tourism Officer Ma. Felisa Marques said. “We are also doing an exit survey on the airport arrivals but as of now me humahabol pa na tourists,” she added.

Marques said the main events of the Kadayawan namely the Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan and the Pamulak Parade may be over but there are still many Kadayawan-related activities that are on-going and still to be conducted.

On top of this is the 2013 Phoenix Accelerate Vega Hot August Races slated at the Speed City Drag Strip in Maa Diversio Road on August 31 and September 1, 2013. This racing event is a battle among drag racers in the Pro Class, Sportsman Class, Clubman Class and Quick Eight.

The Drag Race may just be the biggest legal drag race in Visayas and Mindanao with around 80 participants from Cebu and major cities in Mindanao.

Marques said Dabawenyos and visitors can still enjoy the on-going Kadayawan-related activities and shows such as the Durian Festival at SM Premier Lanang up to August 25. The eat-all-you can durian festival at P150 is still on-going so those who want to indulge in durian can still try the King of Fruits, she said.

The Agri-Trade Fair at SM City Ecoland which features plants and a bountiful harvest of fruits in season is still on-going at the SM Car Park until August 27. She said “we should strengthen Kadayawan especially now that this is being replicated in many parts of the world including Japan.”

She said that even before the Kadayawan officially closes, they are already conducting meetings to prepare for the next festivals in the city such as the Paskuhan sa Davao and a bug summer festival which will be launched in conjunction with the Summer Fest.

Marques said Davao City’s strength lies in domestic tourists who make up 93 percent of the arrivals. One percent of tourist arrivals in the city are Balikbayans while only 6 percent are foreign tourists comprising of Americans, Australians, Japanese and Koreans.

Davao is RP’s new gastronomic destination

The city has a reputation for being one of the best destinations when it comes to adventure tourism. However, no one will argue that it is also fast becoming one of the country’s top gastronomic destinations.

Those who have visited Davao City for the past ten years will tell you never to leave without trying Luz Kinilaw’s sinugbang panga and buntot. The budget-conscious foodies also raved about Taps and the fastfood’s famous vinegar and pepper sauce. And who can forget eating durian along the sidewalks of Uyanguren?

With the construction of malls in the city came the various specialty restaurants and fastfoods from Manila. While the newbies provided a variety of gustatory options for Dabawenyos and their visitors, the homegrown food providers still kept to their traditions and prevailed.

“We are becoming the country’s new gastronomic destination thanks to the many home-grown food entrepreneurs in the city,” Department of Tourism (DOT) XI Regional Director Art Boncato said. This, he added, has never been more emphasized than during the Kadayawan Festival which is a celebration of good harvest for Dabawenyos.

photo courtesy of DOT XI

Kadayawan street food festival

One of the very first components of the Kadayawan when it started in 1986 is the street food festival which was held at the junction of Roxas Avenue and C.M. Recto Street. “This was a Kadayawan staple which has been replicated every year,” Mr. Boncato said. The street food festival was actually an extended and a more glamorous version of the various barbecue stalls in the city.

Kadayawan, which is celebrated during the month of August every year, is itself all about the bountiful harvest of food including the fresh seafood, vegetables and fruits that abound in the city. After all, it is during this month and hereafter that you will see the streets with bukags (the native baskets) filled with colorful and delicious fruits in seas. During this month, it is natural to see trees alongside the streets teeming with luscious red rambutan and durian. It is easy to be tempted to just pick up the fruits from these trees as they hang beyond the gates.

Mr. Boncato said through the years, the city has developed its own unique blend of gustatory concoctions that can only be referred to as the Davao flavor. Kadayawan 2008 started featuring the local food choices through Ka-an Mindanao or the Indigenous Food Fiesta. This featured the indigenous cuisine of the city.

Durian Festival

Another Festival staple is the 15-day Durian Festival slated from August 10 to 25, 2013 at the SM Premier in Lanang. “We wanted to feature the different varieties of durian not only to let people taste these varieties but also to educate them,” Durian Industry Council of Davao City chairperson Larry Miculob said.

Visitors to the city can get their fill of fresh durian through the eat-all-you-can-durian at P150. For those who just want to satisfy their craving without overindulging, the P40 per kilo price for durian is good enough. The agricultural fair at Ecoland also features a durian booth where visitors can buy durian at P50 per kilo and eat the fruit at the durian tents provided by the exhibitor.

Mr. Boncato said the Davao Fruit Craze also opened at Abreeza Mall just in time for the Kadayawan. “Visitors will get the chance to enjoy all their favorite fruits including pomelo, mangosteen, banana and other fruits in season right at the mall,” he said. This is clearly a proof that August is indeed a season of harvest in Davao, he added.

One of the events that showcased Davao as a real gastronomic destination not only during the Kadayawan Festival but all throughout the year is the three-day Gourmet Collective which opened at SM Lanang Friday.

“This is the first effort to gather the gourmet chefs of Davao to showcase their tastiest specialties,” Mr. Boncato said. Among the food choices on display are the concoctions of Bangkok Wok which showcased Thai Cuisine, Cellar de Boca which served Spanish-inspired food using Davao’s very own brown rice and Monica Floirendo which served Mexican-inspired food.

Davao to install 130 more CCTV’s worth P100M in time for Kadayawan

Davao City is set to install additional 130 close circuit television (CCTVs) worth P100 million in its bid to reach its goal of up to 300 CCTVs all over the city in the future.

“The cameras which will be designed by IBM will be installed for protection and traffic management,” Public Safety and Security Command Center Chief, Retired P/Chief Superintendent Francisco Villaroman said during the iSpeak Media Forum held at the Davao City Hall Thursday.

He said there are at present around 130 CCTV cameras all over the city. These and the additional ones will ensure that the urban centers and the main intersections are properly covered, he said.

“We really need the CCTVs to be up especially in time for the Kadayawan,” he said. The Kadayawan Festival will kick off on August 9 and will culminate on August 17 and 18.

However, he said, the new cameras will be installed on installment basis. The executives from IBM Manila were in the city Wednesday and met with the Abratique Group to coordinate the installation of the CCTVs, he added.

Villaroman said these are no ordinary CCTVs because these are sophisticated and multifunction cameras that can be used as evidences in court later on for traffic violation or even criminality. “The CCTVs are so sophisticated that if we are looking for a certain vehicle color, it will be easy to monitor all vehicles with that specific color and we can check their plate numbers,” he said.

The new CCTVs will make Davao a model around the world when it comes to these types of cameras, he said. This is also the first time that IBM will design such a camera and not even Makati has this type of camera, he added.

Once the additional CCTVs are fully installed, he said, we will request more IT and engineering personnel to man the center which is now operating on a 24-hour shift with 12 hours each shift. Villaroman said there is a plan to still operate 24 hours but on three shifts, with 8 hours per shift to make the people more efficient in monitoring the cameras.

Airlines not feeling the pinch of foreign travel advisories

Most of the airlines flying to and from Davao City are not affected by the different foreign travel advisories issued by their governments against the cities of Davao, Zamboanga and Cotabato.

Photo courtesy of Rudolph Alama

Among the countries that have issued the travel advisory separately are big tourism markets including Australia, Canada and the United States of America.

“We had informal discussions with the airlines but we are still gathering data for possible cancellations as a result of the travel advisories,” City Tourism Officer Lisette Marques said during Thursday’s iSpeak Forum at the Davao City Hall.

Marques said Silkair is a regional airline and these countries are their market so it is of course affected by the travel advisory. However, she said, most of the airlines in the city are focused on the domestic market so they are in no way affected by the advisories.

She said they have not also seen cancellations in relation to the Kadayawan as a result of the advisories. “The Ad Congress cancellation is another matter since it was a result of internal problems,” she added.

Marques said there are many indications that Davao City is growing as a destination. She said she has just received information that a medical association has already scheduled a convention in the city for May 2014 with a delegation of 3,000 people.

When asked about the preparedness of the city when it comes to accommodation, she said “this is a happy problem” because it is an indication that many people are visiting the city.

However, she said that this is also a problem for businesses who build more rooms which are fully booked only during peak seasons.  She said the city would be better prepared if the visitors reserve their rooms ahead.

Davao City's Non-Smoking Law A Farce?

Davao City joined the ranks of several European countries when the city government imposed a non-smoking rule on public areas and strictly regulated establishments with smoking areas. However, the hype created by the city's non-smoking regulation may just be a farce, with more establishments now allowing smoking in public without following the law to the letter.

The recent PLDT MyDSL affair and Kadayawan expo in Market! Market! in Damosa is a ase in point. A lot of people were smoking inside the tents unmindful of the presence of children inside and well, the existence of the no-smoking law. This happened within the "seeing" distance of various Philippine National Police officers. I even told one policeman "manong di ba bawal and smoking sa public places bakit yang mga taong yan di mo hinuhuli?" Smokers even abound inside the Market!Market especially the side near the parking area where there are restaurant stalls.

Another example of an establishment with very liberal smoking rules is Belly's Grill in Quirino. This is the place where the Sunday Riders usually hold their meetings but they usually disallow other customers in the open-air area when the Sunday Riders meet there. Belly's Grill is divided into two areas: the air conditioned area and the open air area where kids usually gather because it has a playground.

I asked the waitress why they allow customers to smoke there in the open-air area (but still with a roof) when there are plenty of kids around and with the non-smoking law in existence. She replied " sabi ng may ari pwede man daw mam!" One customer even had the gall to sit in one of slides where the kids are playing and smoke there. We told him to back off since there were plenty of kids there. Later on, the waiters started telling the smokers to just smoke near the grilling area.

Davao City's tennis courts are also not shielded from smokers. One example is the tennis court in SIR Matina where smokers smoke wantonly even with kids present and even when inside the club house. I caught one smoker and called 911 immediately. That was 9AM. I waited until 3PM but no 911 came. Sayang naman and budget nyo!

This is absurd. And Davao City's non-smoking ordinance is not just absurd, It is also a FARCE!