Monday, August 20, 2007 Ledesma: A sterling success By Jun Ledesma Sunburst
FOR THE last four days it seems that all roads led to Davao City. I doff my hat to the planners, organizers, participants, the city officials, our policemen and the special military task force for a job well done. Now no one can question the ability of acting city mayor Inday Sara in overseeing the city's most complex event.
Kadayawan is no doubt a test of how well-placed is our security matrix. Never have I seen as many people in so many places in the city that never slept.
Kadayawan is truly a festival of all Dabawenyos. Of course at the center stage are the varied indigenous peoples of Davao. The concept of giving focus to the (Indigenous Peoples) IPs was correct. We saw a plethora of colorful cultural displays from the many tribes that inhabit the vast lands of Davao City and the adjoining provinces. Each tribe has its distinct presentation. Maybe next year we will be able to witness a grander event now that we see that the genuine cultural event can be done. What is important is that we will be able to have a super road show of the spectacular and colorful ethnic displays in their genuine and original forms and genres.
I believe that we have finally identified a truly Davao cultural event. We have discovered what is distinctively Davao and Kadayawan is the event that will showcase it. If Cebu has its Sinulog, Iloilo its ati-atihan and Baguio its floral festival, our Kadayawan is something unique. The participants are authentic. They are not painted imitations. Their songs and the sound of their gongs are original. They retain the mysticism of the past for they are not embellished with the digital inventions and the crazy rap of drug-crazed bands.
Kadayawan spells bonanza and it is most significant this year in that the harvest of fruits is quite abundant this year. Favorable weather, again unique only in Davao, yielded bumper crops. All the malls in Davao are overflowing with fruits of various kinds. In every street corner, ambulant fruit peddlers sell their goods at very low prices. The "bagsakan" in Bankerohan can hardly keep up with tons of varied fruits that are brought there by fruit tree growers.
Last night my family decided to eat out. Every nook and corner seemed to be occupied. There's no place in the restaurant malls. MTS (Matina Times Square) was alive and there seems to be no room for the five of us. The restaurant row along F. Torres St. was busy with every inch of parking space occupied. I was about to give up when suddenly a parked CRV backed up. My wife Jay said, "pa suerte suerte lang." We parked in the midst of restaurant establishments and almost right in front of Durian Park. We thought our ordeal was over. We discovered that all seats were taken. I saw erstwhile vice mayor Louie Bonguyan who is playing host to about half a dozen guests from the US. We just gestured at each other. Even the chicken barbecue stalls never ran out of customers who are willing to queue. But then we never ran out of luck, we finally settled in another nook where the owner said we can buy durian across the street and devour it in their resto. Which we did.
The price of durian is well within my budget since it is costing only P35 per kilo. The Durian Park at Torres street was teeming with people too. There were a number of tourists who were having fun trying to outdo their hosts in eating durian. "I love it here. I love you guys," one of them said even as his shoes is dirtied with mud.
After this celebration, expect our foreign guests to be talking about their experience here. I have gone to a few countries, saw a few of their fairs. Nothing compares with Kadayawan festival. You can have a fill of your eyes and your tummy. To our guests, we welcome you back and next time be prepared for a greater and more colorful Kadayawan event.
BTW, aside from eateries and malls, hotels and resorts also enjoyed extremely good business. We have friends who had difficulty finding a room in the so-called star hotels they ended in smaller inns which they said were not bad at all. Which should remind us that Davao resorts and hotel owners should lead in the efforts of marketing events like Kadayawan and Araw ng Dabaw to foreign clients. It's about time they too invest in marketing events and not rely mainly on the city government, the Department of Tourism and Philippine Airlines the task of selling Davao City as a tourist destination.
