The Bane Reason Behind our Davao Tour Last February

After attending an event for the Department of Tourism endorsing Davao dubbed as Davao Fun Sale, and heard Davao Tourism LGU's supporting for Mayor Duterte's candidacy for presidency, it took me a lot of thinking, about this seemingly famous guy.  At that time he was still saying that he wasn't going to run for presidency and was quite strongly about it.

Everyone who have been to Davao, boasted about it's grand beauty, its being safe and all.  So, Bhogs and I just needed to see it and feel it for ourselves.

The next thing my husband knew is that I went home with a set of round trip tickets to Davao.

Here are  some reasons behind why I want to experience Davao

• What Samal Island an offer to tourists
• To visit the flora and fauna at Eden Nature Park and Resort
• Check out farms with Cacao trees and fruits and check what Malagos Chocolate and Malagos Garden is all about
• Check out the Philippine Eagle Conservatory and see the the eagles and get educated in how to save more of them.
• Taste Davao's diverse culinary

Beyond that, I needed to know how Mayor Duterte have managed to win the people of Davao.

While appreciating the sights and the current development in Davao, Bhogs and I would interview locals and those that aren't from there but have found work at Davao.

The crowdsourcing site numbeo.com recently ranked Davao City as the ninth safest in the world. Locals love hearing about this and would truly attest to how strict their Mayor (Digong) is when it comes to ensuring peace and safety in his city.

I'm not sure if the Dabawenyo's know about how he could have managed this, so I tried search on the web some more, cause all I've been hearing is that he would just utter the words and the alleged criminals would be found dead the next day.  There was a funny story about how he would even pose as a taxi cab driver and he'd go around surveying the streets at wee hours.

To even check, my husband even went out at 1 am with my son to grab a quick snack and true enough, they walked the streets and found nothing but what seems like a walk in the park.

When I was asking, some were proud and yet there were some, where I can sense a hint of fear behind their back, some a sense of reluctance.  And behind the good environment people are enjoying, not all of the one's we asked about Davao and Duterte, were all for the said Mayor.

Apart from that, Davao City is under constant watch 24/7 because of its Public Safety Command Center (PSCC). Costing at a hefty sum of P704-million, it is the Philippines' first ever Traffic Monitoring Center equipped with the most advanced and state-of-the-art traffic monitoring facilities patterned after the ones in Los Angeles, California, and is said to be better than the Emergency 911 of the United States.   This part I never heard from anyone I've interviewed.

We are both in awe of these different stories, I thought otherwise of Duterte, maybe he could be the one to purge Manila of the same kind of perpetrators, except...

But far from this is this story that I saw from CNN.

If having the "so-called" peace and security through this manner, I definitely wouldn't vouch for it.
If asked whether I want what Davao boasts of, how can I say no, but you see, I've been around the country, and Davao isn't the only beautiful place in the Philippines that is also safe and secured for us tourists, there's Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Cagayan de Oro, Camiguin, Albay, and of course Cebu.

Oh and guess what, Davao is also stricken with the dreaded traffic in it's major city, and there are still tribal disputes and many other issues like what we have here in Manila.  Need I mention the Van that we rented who outsmarted us in asking more for what we bargained for?

This isn't any propaganda, this is just based on my own observations and research, and I'm not trying to dissuade or even persuade anybody of who they would vote on #Halalan2016.

I just hope and pray that we can vote conscientiously.  And of course, there are still so much more to experience in Davao so I guess I will still come back.