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Friday, May 19, 2006
Ledesma: Around Mindanao in 15 days
By Jun Ledesma
Subursts
I WAS all over Mindanao these past 15 days. It was a business, pleasure and educational trip actually. My wife Jay made the rounds of Philamlife agencies, me looking for some business prospects, while my two grade school kids - Paolo and Abbie -- wanted to see Dapitan where national hero Dr. Jose Rizal was exiled.
We first went to Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat, a good two-and-a half hours drive from Davao City. Fairly good roads except for the badly damaged link between Datu Paglas and the old Buluan town. The infamous Armm LTO operatives dubbed by motorists as the mulcting "flying dragons" are no longer operating in the area, so it seems. Tacurong is such a busy town, especially their public market, which is so disorganized as is its dingy appearance. It makes the place even hotter than what one expects. But never mind, Tacurong is a place where the indolent is not counted.
Muslims and Christian traders have their grand time selling their wares. On our way back to Davao we decided to stop over in Darong, Sta. Cruz to buy all the varieties of durian that are available there -- Puyat, Arancillo, Chanee and the native ones that also come in different shapes, colors, odors and taste. First I doubted but now I believe my friend, Tony Ajero, who assured me that the stronger the smell the more palatable the thing.
We left Davao City 7 a.m. the following day. Our next destination: Dipolog City. For those who thought that the GMA administration cannot do any better than her predecessors, they are in for a very big and pleasant surprise. The national highway is paved all the way. Believe it or not but the Cagayan de Oro to Pagadian road is the best in Mindanao. Ferry boats leave Mohkas terminal in Tubod for Ozamiz City every 15 minutes and it takes less than 30 minutes to cut across Pangil Bay. Since the government opened that new western route from Mindanao to Luzon, the ferryboat facilities had been significantly improved.
No more waiting time. My only complaint is that the management of the ports, especially in the Ozamiz side, needs to overhaul their system. They presume that everybody who crosses the bay knows what fees to pay and how much. The security guards manning the gates are not of any help either. Anyway, my advice to motorists, as soon as you get to the ferry gate, is pay for the terminal fee, arrastre fee, your cargo, which is your vehicle fee, and passengers fee (only two persons per vehicle are free).
The consolation is that once you are out of Ozamiz port the road all the way to Dipolog is well paved and immaculately clean. The two-lane road is mostly winding, cutting across vast rice fields and coconut trees and then some fishponds. There are a number of coastal towns in Misamis Occidental and each have their ports where boats from Cebu, Dumaguete and Bohol, to name a few, dock.
Dipolog City at 8 p.m. is almost asleep. There are not many hotels here to choose from. Accommodations are very rural. It's a good place to invest on for even a two-star type hotel and decent enough restaurants. Dipolog is a melting pot being a jump-off point for Negros and Cebu. If there is any city that can come close to Davao in terms of cleanliness, it is Dipolog. The other similarity is the undisciplined jeepney and tricycle drivers.
Dapitan City is about 25 minute-drive from Dipolog. What strikes me immediately are the old edifices which are well preserved and still inhabited. Dapitan is a city which forgot to grow or better still refused to be influenced by modernism.
The Rizal shrine failed to impress me. There are memorabilia, statues, the living quarters and workplaces of Rizal, but there is nothing there that explains why the great national hero was banished to that cove. It is apparent that there were attempts at restoring what Rizal had built but what was done was a kind of a reconstruction work using cement plasters that makes the irrigation canals and the dam look like they were constructed by a lousy engineering crew of a DPWH-bilked contractor.
There ought to be some kind of government assistance to restore the essence of this important historical spot for the next generation and thereafter.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (May 19, 2006 issue)
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