Sunday, July 27, 2008 Generations By Jinggoy Salvador
FOR a night, the Dabawenyos make it a point to gather and make their presence felt in the city's annual ball. This, after all, is the event meant for them. This has been the practice for generations and passed on to the next. This is "the" celebration. But more than a party, it is honoring decades of tradition established by ancestors.
Hijos de Davao is an organization instituted based on a deeply rooted Filipino tradition -- the love for family and the community as well. It is a continuous nurturing of relationship within the home and extends out.
And it has grown and is growing. With a few third generation descendants of Davao's Christian settlers of the mid-19th century, the Hijos de Mindanao was born. Soon after, the group renamed itself to Hijos de Mindanao y Sulu to include the Suu Muslims, then Club Dabawenyo and eventually to the name we all know it as, the Hijos de Davao.
From true blue Dabawenyos, this group extended its membership to include those who have decided to make Davao their home- the new Dabawenyos. With new members made part of the clan, the family has grown bigger. The "hijos" of the forefathers have conceived is not just about blood relations but also brotherhood among the extended family.
And so, in the true meaning of family and brotherhood, Hijos de Davao does its dutiful role in the Davao community. Not only is this a social organization to which it was originally founded on, but in the past few years, although unknown to many, Hijos de Davao is a civic organization as well. Medical missions, constructions, charity and scholarship programs to fellow Dabawenyos.
Today, as in the past years, the Hijos de Davao Cultural and Educational Foundation, Inc. has actively promoting and enhancing the preservation of the cultural heritage of this city and unceasingly contributing to the educational and social upliftment of the citizens. This is hijos caring for hijos.
Seeing Davao grow and the townsfolk flourish must make the pioneering townfolks proud of what they have accomplished.
And so one night in a year, on the feast of Davao City's Patron Saint, the Dabawenyos honor St. Peter and make it a point to head to the annual ball. TO be seen, yes, for they represent the generation that started this tradition and to welcome those who made Davao their homes to become a part of the family. To this, they dance the Rigodon de Honor.
