Why Visit Davao?

I'll tell you why.

I'm a local. I was born here and lived here for 20-something years already and I'll try to to make this article bias-free, as possible.  But what the heck.  I'll tell you what I know about my place of birth.  If you ask me if you should come over Davao, I would think... hmmm... where should I take you?  If you are that city person and you want something different, then come over.  If you want to go here to party then it's not the place for you.  

You see, Davao is a quaint city.  Although its the biggest city in the Philippines in terms of land area, we are still way behind development.  But I must say investors are coming in to shell out some money.  There are a lot of malls and buildings that are being erected in the last few years.  That should be a good sign that Davao is indeed getting better.  We might be behind development but we have plenty of other things to boast.  

For one, we have been dubbed by the WHO to have the cleanest water in the world.   Aside from having clean waters, our streets are generally clean too.  I've remembered our city was featured on national tv.  The reporter tried to ambush the streets to prove the claims and went around the city with his camera on.  And we didn't fail him.  It was indeed garbage-free.

I think much of the improvements in the city are due to the fact that we are under a very good governance by our very infamous mayor.  The Dutertes are known to be very strict and are very aggressive in implementing laws.  He would even go out of his way to make sure the laws are followed.  One time he went out in his car to this busy party street, and brought out his megaphone and shouted at the party goers and bar owners to shut down the place.  It was past 2am and bars should be closed by then.  After the incident, the bars were forced to close in 2 weeks until they could process papers to pass the criteria for operation.  And ever since then, all bars close until 2am.  We have Smoking Ban here so smokers are only allowed to smoke in certain places.  Fire works are also not allowed during Christmas and New Year.  What we do to make a lot of rattle is just blow our horns, strike our pans and shout.  After that, we either eat or  sleep.  hahaha.  But I guess it's the safest way to greet the year.  And it's true.

There's really much to say about the Dutertes but I'll have to save that for another post.

Typhoon has hit Philippines again.  True, but in Davao we don't experience typhoon.  They said that's because Mt. Apo is shielding us, but I'm not really sure of that.  Usually typhoons really don't pass by here for some weird reason.  We've got an almost predictable weather here.  According to my boss from Manila, it's summer everyday in Davao.  Well yeah, that's because even on rainy season, it's still sunny during the day, but the only difference is, it rains at night.  This usually happens during the ber months.

We are the only city in the Philippines that has 911.  I heard that one foreigner didn't believe it so he tried calling 911, after someone from 911 responded, he became a believer.  Truly, we don't only have people to respond to our emergency needs but they are also well equipped with up-to-date facilities and medical paraphernalias.  I had been once inside the 911 emergency van and my-god it was big and new.  And by the looks of it, it's expensive.

We are home to at least 10 indigenous tribes and expats and tourists go over here as well.  And more and more tourists are coming over as time goes by.

It's basically the most liveable place in the country.  We have very cheap food. Being in an island that thrives mostly on agriculture and being bordered by the oceans we are teeming with natural resources.  Buildings after buildings are slowly being erected in the city proper. And tourism is on great speed now.  I think Davao is really getting better than ever. 

If you were in our city, what's really great to visit here are recreational Parks, Museums, nature parks and zoos.  We also have a lot of activities for people who loves adventure.  We have scuba diving, island hopping, wake boarding  and white water rafting.  The longest zipline in the philippines is found here as well, stretching up to 850meters, along with it is tree rappelling. You can also try climbing the highest peak in the Philippines, Mt. Apo, towering at 10,311 feet.

We've got the biggest bird and it's also a home to the national fruit which is durian.  I could really go on and on here.  Bottom line is, you go to Davao if you have the heart for adventure, fascination for nature, interest for indigenous tribes, appetite for fruits and have enough time to enjoy all these.