Davao

Davao International Airport
Durian art work greeting local and foreign tourists
Island Garden City of Samal's Paradise Resort
Christmas time in Davao City
People from all walks of life converge at "People 's Park" in Davao City

all photos were taken by Orange Tulip

Few days earlier, i was happy about Barack Obama's good choice of picking up his Vice Presidential running mate Joseph Bidden. This guy is arguably an expert in government and foreign policies, a trait that many critics have found Obama lacking. I am personally in favour of Obama probably because of his disarming charisma and his promised " mantra of change" although he has not talked a lot on how he would go about such "change." I was reading about Hurricane Gustav's destructive plot in the Gulf Coast affecting the Republican Convention. President George W. Bush should have been to appear Monday at the four-day convention and i am getting interested over the 44-year old first-term Alaskan governor named Sarah Palin whom John McCain, in his advanced age and a former Vietnam prisoner of war has chosen to be his Vice Presidential running mate.

The headline news for today has brought chills to my spine. Digos City, Davao del Sur's capital city's terminal was bombed initially killing six people and left 28 others wounded, including a three year old girl. Davao, which is mostly popular for the tasty yet smelly durian is a huge province which was divided into three still huge provinces are as follows: Davao del Norte with Tagum as its capital, Davao Oriental with Mati as its capital and Digos City as capital of Davao del Sur. Davao City is geographically located in Davao del Sur but it has become an independent city. Davao is a lovely place with beautiful gardens, nice beaches, happy people and where local and foreign tourists enjoy coming back. It is a very friendly city both to people and the environment as smoking is prohibited in public places of the city. Around three years ago, i enjoyed reading a book in the city's Rizal Park which is pretty safe. A stone throw away is the San Pedro Cathedral across the City Hall. One can walk to his or her hotel or residence even at midnight and arrives safely, thanks to the disciplinarian,feisty and very much hands-on Mayor who's policies are deterrent to criminals to the delight of the business community and majority of the constituents. Of course criticisms about his management syle also abounds but what the heck, one cannot please everybody and even a popular mayor is never an exception.

Davao has been in the headlines since August 25 due to the ill-fated crashing of the C-130 in the Davao gulf( reportedly close to the Samal islands where white sand beaches including the upscale Pearl Farm are). Digos city is also known for each beaches and this is where most of the people from the nearby Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces go for outings. This is also a major city where travellers from Cotabato City, Maguindanao, South Cotabato and Saranggani pass through on their way to Davao City. http://www.davaocity.gov.ph/

Now enough for the geography. The news about such bombing (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080902-158108/Davao-bus-blast-kills-6, (http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080901173 has made Davao in the headlines again. In July, the same bus line was bombed in Digos City initially killing one a nursing student and this was linked to the extortion activities allegedly by the Al-Khobar gang and this time initially killing six people and injuring another 28 including a three year old child. I assume that since the bus came from the city, the child was probably treated to Jollibee or McDonalds, went a little shopping with his parents or had a stroll in the lovely People's Park. Since it happened in the afternoon, they are probably on their way home. Same goes with the other commuters. It was supposed to be a happy day after unwinding in the city. But it turned out to be tragic.

And it happened at a time when the public has heard enough of the atrocities and human rights violations by MILF extremists or break away groups so it has done more impact. Only a copuple of weeks earlier, Kadayawan Festival was celebrated but it did not get much media attention as this gory bombing has done. Whoever was responsible for the bombing of such bus were a group of heartless, cruel individuals who did not care a bit about humanity. Injuring a three year old child, including probably her parents and killing and leaving other civilians wounded is a very cruel act and deserves severe punishment. Yet justice in this country is so slow and i am wondering if this tragic incident would just be included in the statistics.

When the hype of the news about such incident diminishes, what will happen to these victims? Who will take care of them? Who will take care of their hospitalization bills and medicines and will they be ever given an assistance after the medical care? What will happen to families whose breadwinners are included in the initial fatalities? Will they be given a livelihood assistance to start with? Or will they be left behind and fend for themselves and suffer their own pains?

Digos City is around an hour drive or an hour and a half by bus from Davao City. As i have mentioned earlier it has nice beaches too, and one could buy flowers of various kinds from the market although there are a lot more in Bangkerohan Market, Davao City. It has its own Gaisano mall and fastfood outlets and major banks. The people are very warm and friendly too. During " normal days" Digos City i reckon, is a lovely place to live due to its proximity to the beaches and closeness to the amenities of Davao City.

Yet people outside Mindanao and that includes the other countries outside the Philippines are unaware that other areas are safe for travel so they postpone or cancel their trip due to "peace and order situations". I have travelled myself riding the same bus line to Digos City and back to Davao City three years ago and it was my favourite bus because the drivers and the conductors are very courteous and accomodating. Even my fellow commuters are very friendly they exchange smiles with me although they are quite hesitant to talk to me probably because i looked a little different. I was lucky enough in taking these trips for a large number of few days there was no sad incident like this. There were checkpoints in going and coming out of Davao City so i felt safe. However, when the Glorietta Mall in Makati City was allegedly bombed( the cause is still disputed to date) and the Congress of the Philippines was bombed too- the free spirit in me suggested that everyday and everywhere , one's life is a risk and no one was able to stop me from going anywhere whenever my resources could afford it.

I just hope that the perpetrators of this crime will be apprehended and be given due punishment in the soonest possible time to deter further plans of inflicting man-made sufferings to innocent civilians. And i hope that the victims of this cruelty will be taken cared of or their sufferings would at least be alleviated. And i pray that any human right violation of this kind will never happen again.

Its an irony that this occured on the first day of Ramadan- when our Muslim brothers are starting their annual fasting activity as a part of the Islamic practice. Whoever the perpetrators of the crime would be, i hope that they will find it in their heart to pause and meditate and repent. Most importantly, i pray that they will respect the innocent civilian's right to live.