DAVAO CITY: ON THE MOVE TO PROGRESS
Then and Now |
Davao City: Then and Now is a story of a community carved out of the wilderness over a period of years. It deals with the community’s early history (even before it was created into a city); government organizations; economic conditions; social organizations; and cultural communities with unique people, having their own peculiar personalities, progressing in all directions and projecting their own identity as Davaoeños.
When the Spaniards came in 1848, they saw a community of Bagobos, Mandayas, B’laan, Mansakas, Manobos, Atas, Tagacaolos, Guiangan and the Moros. Oyanguren and his group built a Christian settlement and a small chapel which was named Nueva Vergara in honor of Oyanguren’s hometown in Spain. In 1858, a military government was established in Nueva Vergara and was named the fourth district of Mindanao. Since that time on, Nueva Vergara became known by its native name, Davao. It was recorded in 1890 that Davao had a total number of 30,000 inhabitants, only 30 percent of which were Christians.
The economic condition of the people did not improve at all during the Spanish regime. Although Davao had a great economic potential, no industry was developed. There was no significant economic activity established then.
The American occupation started with the arrival in 1890 of Major Hunter Ligget. This gave birth to a Military administration. It was during the early years of this period that Davao was noticed as having a rich potential in agriculture development.
Even before the outbreak of World War II, Davao was home to a big population of Japanese migrant workers who contributed much to the economic advancement of Davao through the development of vast abaca plantations used in the processing of hemp. Other agricultural crops include coffee, rubber, and cotton.
1936: THE CREATION OF THE CITY
Davao was created as a city when then Assemblyman Romualdo C. Quimpo of Davao sponsored a bill in Congress in March 16, 1936, making Davao a chartered city. The said bill was signed into law by President Manuel L. Quezon on October 16, 1936. The formal inauguration was held on March 1, 1937.
The coming of the Japanese in 1941 brought fear among Davaoeños, and because of which, a big population evacuated to the outskirts of the city. When peace and order was re-establsihed under the terms of Mayors Alfonso Oboza and Donato Endriga, most evacuees came back to the poblacion. Davaoeños were then engaged in “buy and sell”, farming and government employment. Schools in the city were opened and the Nippongo language was taught to the students, side by side with the National Language and English. However, only few students attended classes. Life was not in normal condition due to the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers.
After the Second World War, Davao staged its march to progress. The principal industries then were logging, copra, banana, corn, abaca, ramie, mining, and fishing. When the logging industry declined, banana production took over as the leading export product.
The rest of the 80’s and the early part of the 90’s saw a vibrant and dynamic Davao City teeming with economic developments as investments poured into the city due to favorable business climate broughtabout by its natural advantages and the peace and order condition.
From then on, Davao was recognized as the center of commerce and trade in Mindanao. Industrial and commercial establishments did business domestically and internationally.
Today, Davao City is caught in the vast sweep of urbanization that it is but proper for all Davaoeños, be they natives or migrants, to be proud of Davao City as one of the fastest growing cities in the Philippines. |
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| Culture and Heritage |
Easy assimilation is an integral essence of multi-cultural Davao. Being a chartered city, it has grown appreciating differences in culture and tradition by numerous ethnic groups that integrated easily to the local tribes already present during its infancy as a city.
Like most cities in the country, Catholics largely populate Davao. Christian churches and chapels dot the city’s landscape along with some temples, mosques, and other places of worship.
Another Spanish influence that remains up to this day is the observance and celebration of barrios (or villages) of the day of their respective patron saint called “Fiesta”. It is in these celebrations wherein songs, dances and other forms of arts and merrymaking from various cultures have evolved creatively into the sights and sounds of Davao now. Such showcases point to its ultimate climax as the celebration of all celebrations - the weeklong Kadayawan sa Dabaw Festival. |
| Geography and Physical Characteristics |
Davao City is strategically located in the Asia-Pacific rim serving as gateway to both the western and eastern hemispheres of the world.
Davao City is in the southern part of the Philippines, particularly in the Southern Mindanao Region with a latitude of 6° 58’ to 7° 34’ North and a longitude of 125°14’ to 125° 40’ East. The City is 946 aerialkilometers away from Manila.
It is bounded by the province of Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur while partly on the east it faces the expanse of the Davao Gulf and the Island Garden City of Samal. Its boundary line passes through the peak of the country’s tallest mountain, the Apo at 3,142 meters above sea level. Cascading from the peak and going east down, one finds vast plains, unspoiled forests, fertile valleys, navigable rivers, and the sprawling metropolis and world-class beaches.
Being located outside the storm-free zone, Davao City enjoys good tropical weather all year round with climatic elements that are distributed evenly. Temperature ranges from 15°C to 34°C.
It is a place blessed with natural advantages. The soil is very fertile and rich in non-metallic minerals. The City has an abundant source of potable water both from underground and surface. |
| Achievements and Recognition |
Most Competitive Metro City in the Philippines, 2001, 2003, 2005
The Asian Institute of Management has conducted an assessment of the leading Cities in the country using indicators such as quality of life, cost of doing business, dynamism of the local economy, infrastructure, linkages and accessibility, and quality of workforce in the years 2001, 2003, and 2005 (No survey was done in 2002 and 2004) and Davao City topped the rankings in 2001 and 2005 and placed 3rd in 2003.
Most Livable City in the Philippines
Based on annual surveys made by Asiaweek on the 40 Best Cities in Asia, Davao City has consistently made it to the Top 20 for four consecutive years (1996-1999). In the survey of livability, Davao City rated high in the following categories:
2nd in the least number of criminal cases per 10,000 at 0.8
5th in lesser vehicles per km of city road at 46 vehicles/km
6th in the ratio of house price to income at 6.18
14th in lesser volume of suspended particles in the air at 98 ?g/m³
14th in value of state education spending per capita/$ at 410.80
Davao garnered 56 points and ranked 18th. Cebu got 54 points and ranked19th while Manila was in a freefall with 49 points down at 25th.
This statistics mean that Davao City has become the Most Livable City in the Philippines. If the survey, which is independently done by Asiaweek, becomes a basis, it could be said that Davao has maintained its quality of livability as a city and is in fact improving on it.
Destination of the Year, 1997 Kalakbay Awards
1997 was supposed to be the banner year of Davao City having earned a lot of distinctions in the national arena. Aside from being chosen as the Destination of the Year by the Kalakbay Awards, tourism facilities within the city were also recognized with the highest honors in their respective categories such as Hotel of the Year for Villa Margarita and Restaurant of the Year for Annies Restaurant.
Most Child-friendly City in the Philippines, 1999, 2000
In the first ever selection of the Most Child-Friendly City in the Philippines, Davao City came out the runaway choice for the top plum owing to its local government’s programs and initiatives directly benefiting its children.
Davao City stood out because it is the first local government unit to have passed a Code specifically designed for the welfare of the children and their rights to services, Protection, and other privileges - this is the Davao City Children’s Welfare Code of 1994.
Aside from the regular social welfare programs being implemented by the City Social Services and Development Office, the local government works closely with non-government agencies that implements programs for children.
The Davao City Government also got high marks because of its implementation of the child welfare and protection programs under the Country Program for Children – UNICEF.
Most Outstanding Regional Peace and Order Council, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005
The quest for peace has become very expensive and very elusive in some isolated parts of Mindanao. However, there is one region where peace has become a price possession that its leaders never want such ideal condition slip out from their hands – the Region XI Peace and Order Council was chosen as the Most Outstanding Regional Peace and Order Council for their unrelenting efforts in maintaining peace and order in Southern Mindanao or Region XI.
Most Peaceful City in East and Southeast Asia, 1998-2005
One of the biggest come-ons of an area is an ideal peace and order condition. The dramatic decrease of crime rate in Davao City is big deal considering that it used to have a very unstable peace and order during the Marcos’ regime that ended in a bloodless revolution in February 1986.
Since then, peace and order has never been more ideal. In fact, it improves year after year thanks to a people who will not let peace slip away like a prized possession.
From a 3-digit crime rate per 10,000 people in 1985, Davao has reached an almost Utopian environment with a monthly crime volume of 0.8 cases per 10,000 persons from 1999 up to 2005. Digging through the records, it would reveal that about 90% of these cases reported are petty crimes that do not in any way threaten the over-all peace and order condition of the city.
Best Police Office in the Country, 1999-2005
Annually, the Philippine National Police conducts an evaluation of the Best Police Offices in the Country. They will be evaluated and ranked according to the ratio of policemen against the population of the area, implementation of programs for maintenance of peace and order, availability of sophisticated equipment and vehicles, the ratio of solved crimes against the total number of crimes reported and the overall safeguarding of the peace and order condition of the area.
2nd place, LGU Literacy Award in the Philippines, 1999
This award is given to local government units that seek to improve literacy within their area through programs that will ensure the establishment of learning institutions even in the most remote rural areas. Davao City ranked a close second in this competition having registered one of the highest literacy rates in the country and in Southeast Asia at 98.05%.
2nd Best City Health Office in the Philippines, 1999Vaccines, medicines, and clinical and medical services may cost much nowadays. A local government unit should see to it that medical services are affordable if not given for free especially to rural folks and the urban poor. In this area of recognition, the local Government of Davao again ranked a close second in operating a City Health Office that delivers free and or very affordable services to its constituents aside from implementing health programs that focuses on prevention of sickness and illnesses.
The Cleanest and Greenest City in the Philippines, 1999-2005
(Highly urbanized category)
For almost a decade, Davao City ranked Second Cleanest and Greenest City in the Philippines. Visitors cannot but help notice that the city’s roads are indeed clean day and night and the parks are eternally green with trees and ornamentals. But the top plum seems slippery because of an open dumpsite located along its diversion road.
Now, the City is considered the Cleanest and Greenest in the Philippines
(For the highly urbanized category)
Most Outstanding Water Utility in Asia, 1996, 1997, 1998
(Awarded in Singapore to Davao City Water District)
This recognition was given to four water utilities in Asia, and Davao City’s water district is one of them. The Davao City Water District has through the years supplied quality potable water to residents of the city.
The need to deliver quality service is equally complemented by the natural abundance of fresh and potable water supply, which contributes to the quality of life in the City. Around 90% of the City’s water supply is taken from a more than 30 wells while the remaining 10% is treated surface water.
The Davao City Water District (DCWD) has made piped water system available to about 70% of the population. This figure may be surprisingly low for people expecting a highly urbanized city. However, a visit to the City will show that hundreds of natural wells and other natural sources of spring water abound in the City, particularly in areas near the foot of the highest peak in the country, the Mt. Apo.
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| Davao-at-a-Glance |
Population
Davao City is home to over a million people. Daytime population (which includes transients) is estimated to reach almost 2 million since it is the center of trade, commerce, and services in Southern Philippines. Its population growth rate is 2.83% while density is at 540 persons per square kilometer. Urban density however is higher at 2,555 people per square kilometer.
Labor Force
About 48% of the total population is of working age. Of this, a little over 88% are employed. Davaoeños like their fellow Filipinos, are English-speaking and highly trainable. Most are known to have a natural inclination towards arts and creativity, the reason why many have been successful in design and related enterprises.
Geography
Davao City is the capital of the Davao Region (or Region XI). It is strategically located at the Southeastern part of Mindanao with latitude of 6º58’ to 7º 34’ North and a longitude of 125º14’ to 125º40’ East.
Its boundary line passes through the top of the country’s highest peak, the Mt. Apo. On the north, Davao del Norte bound it, while on the east, partly by Davao del Norte and the Davao Gulf.
The city’s strategic location makes it the center of trade not only in the Southern Mindanao region or the whole of Mindanao but also in the East ASEAN Growth Area (EAGA).
Accesibility
Davao City is very accessible. As your gateway to the Philippine South, it has regular air, sea, and land linkages to major points in the country. It is one (1) hour and 40 minutes away from Manila (the country’s capital) by plane and only 40 minutes away from Cebu City. It has 4 times weekly flights to Singapore and twice weekly flights to Manado Indonesia.
Land use and area
Total land area of Davao City is 2,443.61 square kilometers. In terms of land area, it is considered as one of the largest cities in the world. It is divided into 3 congressional districts with barangays (smallest political villages) totaling to 180.
Almost 50% of its total land area is classified as timberland or forest. Agriculture utilizes about 43%. This is reflective of the fact that agriculture is still the largest economic sector. Big plantations that produce banana, pineapple, coffee, and coconut eat up a large chunk of the total land area.
Presently, built-up areas used for residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial purposes represent about 10% of the total land area. Under the approved land use plan built-up and settlement area will cover 15% of the total area while agricultural will be maximized with 67.19%. The remaining 17.68 will be devoted for forest and conservation.
Climate
Davao City is typhoon-free. The city enjoys a weather that remains balmy all year round. It is characterized by a uniform distribution of rainfall, temperature, humidity, and air pressure.
It has no pronounced wet or dry season. Weather predictability makes it highly conducive to agro-crop production. Temperature ranges from 20 to 32 degrees Celsius and average rainfall is up to 2,000 mm yearly.
Dialects/Languages
Cebuano is the most widely spoken dialect. The Filipino language comes a close second. English is the medium of instruction in schools and is widely understood and spoken especially in the business community.
Religion
The most dominant group is the Roman Catholic at 83.83%, other Christian groups comprise 15% and the remaining 1.17% belongs to other non-Christian faiths (Islam, Buddhism, etc).
Physical Infrastructure
The presence of basic infrastructure within the City such as airport, seaports, roads, bridges, and telecommunications has sustained the economic growth in the last 10 years.
Due to the City’s unprecedented growth, a clamor for higher capacity infrastructures resulted to a number of modernization projects now ongoing to meet the demands of the new millennium.
Airport
The Davao International Airport is the busiest airport in Southern Philippines. Expansion and modernization began in 1998. Today, the DIA has begun accommodating wider-bodied jets such as Boeing 747’s.
Roads and Bridges
Construction of more roads and bridges are also underway. The construction of the City’s third major road - the Buhangin underpass was completed in the 1st quarter of 2003.
A Traffic Management and Computerization Scheme is also being planned. Davao City is ranked no. 5 among cities in Asia with better traffic flow based on vehicles per kilometer of city road.
Seaports
Presently, there are 2 government seaports (the Sasa Wharf and the Sta. Ana Pier) and 9 privately owned ports. The City Government is currently in the process of taking over the management of the seaports to modernize facilities and expand capacity.
In addition, the city has a fish port called the Toril Fish Port Complex to accommodate small and large-scale fishing activities as well as provide among others cold-storage facilities.
Telecommunications
Communication links within the key business areas are adequate. With the deregulation and privatization policies of the Philippine Government, the number of telecommunications player is projected to increase as well as offer affordable telecommunications services to subscribers/clienteles.
Mobile Phone operators, Internet service providers, Internet café’s, and cable-TV operators have now proliferated in the city and even in the rest of the localities within the country to keep the people in-touched and informed of the latest developments around the globe.
Cable-TV Operators
In Davao City, you can enjoy the best of cable TV, your choice of movies, 24-hour world news reports, documentaries, sports, and coverage of significant events, all for as low as US$ 8.00/month.
Internet Service Providers
There are 6 Internet Service Providers operating in Davao City offering dial-up, dedicated and DSL types of service. The City has over a hundred Internet cafés operating in strategic areas where one can surf, chat, play games, send and view e-mails, and engage in e-commerce using the latest computer innovation and technology.
Socio-cultural environment
Education
Filipinos value education so much. They consider a diploma or a college degree as a passport to betteropportunities. The government provides free education at the primary (grade school) and secondary (high school) levels. Government scholars can enjoy free college education in state-run universities such as the University of the Philippines. The literacy rate of the country is 93.9%. Davao City on the other hand has a higher literacy rate of 95.17%.
The City has largely contributed to the country’s ever increasing pool of masters and doctorate degree holders helping the Philippines gained the distinction of having one of the highest numbers of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) graduates in the world.
The City is considered the Center for Learning and Education in the Mindanao Island. Currently, it has 374 elementary schools, 107 secondary schools, and 41 colleges and universities.
Health and HospitalThe average life expectancy of Davaoeños is 70 for females and 65 for males.
There are about 31 hospitals with a total of 1,763 beds in Davao City. Very affordable medical services are made available to poor residents through the Davao Medical Center, which has the most number of hospitals beds at 400.
Banks
Currently, there are around 141 banks (including branches), 37 financing companies, and 466lending firms operating in the city. These can handle financial/monetary transactions from the most basic to the most complicated.
Cargo and courier forwarders
Postal requirements are served by 18 post offices citywide. Forwarders, truckers, custom brokers, international couriers, and messengerial companies offer overnight mail and freight/cargo services.
The PRESS
Aside from the 24 national daily newspapers available, Davao City has also 20 local newspapers, 11 broadcast TV stations, 15 AM-band radio stations, and 25 FM-band radio stations. These numbers reflect the extent of press freedom being enjoyed by the print and broadcast media as well as provide wide range of choice for residents and visitors alike. |
Titles and Monikers of Davao City |
Orchid Capital of the Philippines
There are beautifully vivid reasons why Davao is called a “City in Bloom”. Aside from the presence of vast plantations and garden resorts that grow rare and exotic orchids and ornamentals, the City is specifically known among florists all over the world for its famous waling-waling, considered as one of the most beautiful orchids.
The Waling-waling or vanda sanderana grows in natural abundance in its territory, at the foot of Mt. Apo. Orchids just love to grow majestically in the City because of its typhoon-free weather. Add to that the fact that the city has more than 1,000 square kilometers of lush tropical forest (or about 47% of its total land area) that provided an environment conducive for rare plants to thrive and flourish. Another factor is the rich fertile soil of the city that can virtually make every wind-blown seed grow and bear fruit even without the benefit of human intervention. Virtually, all ingredients are present for Davao City to blossom and bloom magically like the waling-waling.
All these factors contributed to the eventual declaration of Davao City as the official “Orchid Capital of the Philippines” as declared by then President Corazon Aquino.
Fruit Basket of the Philippines- the City of Durian burg
The freshest tropical fruits are always ripe for the picking in a City called Fruit Basket of the Philippines. Whether you’ll go for the juiciest watermelon, the sweetest mango, the more succulent pomelo, rambutan, or go subtly fruit ferocious with banana, mangosteen, lanzones, strawberry, pineapple, avocado, langka, buko, or simply settle with a bowl of fresh fruit salad to end the long list, whatever fibrous or juicy fruits you have in mind, you’ll definitely have your fill in Davao City.
Orchards and fruit plantations continually make the city livable if only for its produce of the freshest fruits giving visitors a glimpse of what it would be like in the Garden of Eden with the exotic Durian (the King of the Fruits or the Fruit of the Gods) serving as the fruit of good and evil with its strong aroma (or pungent odor) overpowered by its heavenly taste which you would not want to exchange for anything. Come to the City of Durianburg and partake of the glorious delights of fruits made in the heavenly realms.
Home of the Great Bird of Asia –Soaring high in the new millennium
No one in the early 80’s would have thought that Davao, like its symbol and icon- the Philippine eagle, would soar to new heights in the new millennium.
No one ever thought too that the mighty Philippine Eagle (pithecophaga jefferyi) considered as the 2nd largest eagle in the world and threaten for extinction as early as the 70’s, would have survived the onslaught of denudation and other factors that continually threaten its natural habitat – the forest.
Thanks mainly to joint efforts of concern government and non-government organizations, captive breeding of this great bird of Asia has resulted to the birth of more than a dozen eagles (hatched in captivity) and we have welcomed the new millennium with them still lording the skies over the forest and vegetation around Mt. Apo.
The Philippine Eagle is a faithful mate. It has been observed that this bird usually prefers a monogamous lifestyle. It usually builds its nest on towering tropical trees about 80 feet above the ground (sufficient enough for it to have a good view over its territory).
Philippine Eagles breed between August and January, do aerial courtships and mate in or near their nest. The female lays one egg every two years and both parents alternately incubate the egg for about 60 days until it hatches. The eaglet fledges within 150 days and becomes independent at 18 months at which time the parents drive it out of their 60 to 100 kilometer radius territories.
With its habitat dwindling due to illegal logging, the Philippine Eagle Foundation, Inc. was organized in 1987 to implement programs such as captive breeding management, field research, community-based enterprise development, and conservation education.
Convention Center of the Philippine South
With more convention and exhibition centers being established that have complemented other excellent tourism facilities, Davao City has steadily positioned itself as the Convention Center of the Philippine South in the 21st century.
Since 1990, it has steadily become the preferred destination for conventions and conferences. This could be attributed to the ever changing and ever improving economic and tourism landscape of the city, which attracted organizers to conduct major conventions here instead of proverbial settings like Manila or Cebu.
Modern, sophisticated, and state-of-the-art facilities and equipment for conventions and conferences are now readily available. This is equally complemented by the establishment of new first class hotels and mountain resorts bringing the number of hotel rooms from around 500 in 1980 to over 2,500 in 1999. Yet, the demand for more hotel rooms is projected to increase now that the City has more tourism products, services, and facilities to offer.
Gateway to the East ASEAN
Davao City, the birthplace of the East ASEAN Growth Area (or EAGA), is also your gateway to this emerging polygon of power. The EAGA was formed mainly because the areas that comprised it (Mindanao and Palawan for the Philippines, Brunei, Manado and North Sulawesi of Indonesia, and Sabah for Malaysia) used to be a trading bloc during the 12th century up to the 15th century where people enjoyed borderless economies with barter trading as the most common economic practice. Centuries of colonialism, imperialism and the establishment of governments within the chain of islands halted the exchanges.
In 1994, government representatives and businessmen from these areas have gathered together in Davao City for the biggest convention ever held in the region to formally signal the birth of the newest trading bloc in Asia, the BIMP-EAGA. In the heart of this formation is Davao City, which paved the way for the re-establishment of cooperation between the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia to advance the free movement of people, goods, services, and improve cultural and economic ties within the said sub-regional trade bloc.
Through these developments, direct air and sea linkages to the islands have been established making Davao City your gateway to the East ASEAN growth area. |
