on davao

I recently discovered that my blog 'waterfall enchantress' was posted at a www.skyscrapercity.com thread about Davao's great outdoors. Thanks for it, but it would also be appreciated if the forumer dropped a short message at the comment section so I would know (it's ok for now).

Actually, I regularly browse at SSC particularly on threads related to Davao. It makes a day how forumers mirror the dynamic and pioneering spirit of being a Dabawenyo and the hopes for the future that soar high like the eagle.

Recently however, I seem to notice friction between some forumers from a 'competing' city from the north in that website. That can be digested, but it seemed that some forumers from that city seem to take nasty pleasure at any sign of 'overthrowing' and 'outshining' what Davao has achieved, probably due to the illusion that being a premiere city in Mindanao, it would behave as 'Imperialist' Manila did. Pastilan, can't these northern forumers with contemptous crustacean mindset (it's an ugly Filipino trait called 'crab mentality') see the difference? Unlike Imperialist Manila that sucked Mindanao's resources and used it solely for its vices (and caused that city to be overdeveloped compared to the rest of the country, overpopulated and over-polluted) where every Mindanaoan may agree in unison, Davao had not done that thing to Mindanao. In fact, it had contributed much like spearheading the BIMP EAGA (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area) and sought cooperation among peoples in Mindanao and Palawan. The city I'm in had been assisting other cities and regions of Mindanao selflessly, and look at how some of the posters from that city behave (not to mention the stupidity of bragging who's got the best taxicabs).

Here's my few words advice for those who have the interest:

"There are achievements where one needs not compete." -Ric Vil Hori

Don't be bothered much about them bragging at having the strategic advantage, no need to 'compete' for their domestic strategic location. Countries to the north of Davao are China-HK, Korea, Taiwan, Russia and all else. To the south, southwest and southeast are Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Australia, PNG, New Zealand. To the east is the vast Pacific ocean and then the America's. Davao is in the middle of it all. Any individual with keen sense can envision a scenario like this: Davao as an important Center that caters not just to the domestic but to all other countries south of Asia and everywhere strategically located. The highly developed countries from the north and from the east far beyond the Pacific are needed by developing countries to the south (and vice versa), and Davao is in the right strategic place between these nations (the city's infrastructure must be enhanced) because of its strategic convenience. Davao's advantage is not just at domestic level, but rather at the GLOBAL level.

But, does Davao have the Vision? Is it civilized and cultured enough? Or would it just stagnate into a typical, seemingly soul-less city that merely sees its otherwise rich indigenous culture as tourism commodities, with a people naive or not capable of appreciating the importance of a cultural piece or artwork to the building of a nation. Its top learning institutions may probably succeed in creating graduates as highly efficient commodities for the economic machinery, but did it teach them with stengthening the very foundation of a people's cultural heritage both ancient and modern, and its role to Human Civilization? Will Davao become a haven of free, cultured, creative, soulful, Universal citizens foreseeing a brighter future for its city and the Planet, or be merely just like the other manipulated, materialistic, modern-day barbarians roaming, wantonly exploiting and polluting on Earth's surface?

That remains to be seen.