TWO years ago terrorists bombed the Roxas Night Market, a popular tourist site in Davao City, resulting to the death of 15 individuals and the injury of 70. Together with family and friends, Davao City mourned over the casualties.
However, a day after the bomb, when the security alert was high, many Dabawenyos chose to show that despite the obstacles that came their way they would be able to face it with strength and courage.
This is not the first time a bombing or terrorism incident happened in Davao City. You have the Easter Sunday bombing on April 19 at the San Pedro Cathedral in 1981 that killed 17 and injured over 100 people. The church was also attacked again on December 27, 1993 where six died and over a hundred were injured. Who could forget the Davao International Airport bombing on March 4, 2003 that killed 21 and injured 146 people?
These are just some of the terrorist activities that happened in Davao City over the past decades.
However, instead of cowering in fear, you can see that since then Davao City did the very best it can to step up its security. Thus, eventually being dubbed as among the safest cities in the country.
Most commendable is the heart of the Dabawenyos. Despite these incidents, they may have felt fear but remained strong. They stayed strong for those who lost loved ones. They stayed strong to help the city get back on its feet.
One beautiful example is days after the Roxas Night Market bombing, we saw young Dabawenyos offering free hugs to those visiting the site. We also observed people expressing gratitude and support to the first responders after the bombing and the security forces who continued to keep the city safe.
If not for the heart of the Dabawenyos, Davao City would not be as resilient as it is right now. It is because of the strength and the love of the Dabawenyos for the city that also helped it overcome the challenges it faced in the past and it will face in the future.