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Sunday, February 12, 2006
Proudly Dabawenyo
By Jinggoy Salvador
"ON behalf of the more than 1.4 million diverse people in this largest city in the world, it is my honor and pleasure to welcome you all to Davao City -- the Philippines' gateway to Mindanao and to the East Asean Growth Area.
"Of course, the negative travel advisory against is canted and self-serving. There is politics in tourism, after all. If we look at the countries that are fond of labeling us as having 'security problems', these are actually the very same countries that invade and conquer other countries, wage unjust wars, and incidentally, control the global tourism industry...
"If I may be allowed to share Davao's tourism strategy, it can be summed up with this -- take care of your own people, remain unconquered, assert your independent spirit, maintain and encourage diversity, ensure just implementation of law and order, and ignore travel advisories issued by ill-advised embassies. We will tell you ourselves if we are not ready for your visit.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Most Livable Philippine City in Asia! We will take good care of you the way we do our own."
Mayor Rody Duterte got the message through. The applause was thundering, if it were not a formal affair, cheers and hooting might have accompanied the clapping hands. To some of the foreign guests who were in the crowd, the speech may have come as a shock. No nation was mentioned but that goes without saying, the guilty party will feel a stab inflicted by the sharp words. Bato bato sa langit...
This was at the opening ceremonies of the biggest event Davao City has ever hosted by far, the Asean Tourism Forum. The small dot in the globe that has been the subject of misconceptions for so long will finally get the due recognition as a major travel destination. Soon this city will erase the negative notion our western counterparts have come to believe we are.
From the commencement until the end of this tourism exposition, I can say that I have never been so proud to be a Dabawenyo. I thought I have seen the best there is when it comes to festivals, but we outdid ourselves this time. Of course, the whole grand presentation was a collaboration of the local and national tourism bigwigs. The entire presentation of the diverse culture we have to the visitors was awe-inspiring. Even I was amazed with the collage of performances that comprised the entire event. The Philharmonic Orchestra, Ballet Philippines, Joey
Ayala, Bayang Barrios and so many more talented artists and performers did their parting making this event truly unforgettable. It was heard from a delegate from Singapore, the next host nation of the ATF, will have a tough time out-doing whatever we have come up with.
But it's not about who hosts the best. Isn't it all about working together to make Southeast Asia the must visit spot in this planet? Like what the mayor has said, nothing can beat the rich cultural diversity this part of the world has. It is enough to lure the westerners to come and visit and discover what we have and who we really are. One visit is all it takes and they will want to come back and learn more.
For us, this forum will truly help boost the tourism industry in Mindanao and the Philippines. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase what we can offer. Davao has been ready to welcome the visitors a long time ago and soon our efforts will pay off.
Slowly but surely, the objectives of this event will be realized. The 25th Asean Tourism Forum was an astounding success! Davao played the perfect host. It is just proper to give everyone who volunteered and made this a triumphant achievement a pat on the back. Thank you and congratulations. Davao City will be unforgettable to all the visitors who visited. I am pretty sure they will be back soon.
Special thanks to Rhonson Ng for his terrific photos! Visit his website http://rhonson.multiply.com/
(February 12, 2006 issue)
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