Davao City Awards and Citations

The Philippine’s Most Livable City (Asia week survey in 1999)

One of Only Three Areas in the World to have the Integrated Emergency Response System 911 as Top 25 Best Practices in the Philippines

1st Place in 2004 Cleanest and Greenest Highly- Urbanized City in the Philippines, and 2nd place in 2001 to 2003 Gawad Pangulo sa Kapaligiran Awards, one of the country’s prestigious national awards aimed to recognize programs that help transform rural and urban areas into clean and green communities.

Cleanest and greenest City in 1999

Most Child- Friendly City in the Philippines (1998- 1999)

Most Competitive City to Do Business in the Philippines (2002)

Most Gender- Responsive LGU in the Philippines (2004)

Hall of Fame, Best Peace and Order Council in the Philippines (2004)

Best City Police Office in the Country (1997, 1999, 2002, 2003)

Most Outstanding City Library in the Philippines (2000)

Top Tourist Destination in the Philippines (1997)

Cleanest Air in the World (2005)

People Of Davao

 

Although majority of the Davaoeñs are migrants dominated by Visayans, Chinese and Muslims, the province is touted to have the most number of indigenous tribal communities or lumads (meaning literally "from the bowels of the earth") living within its territory.

Among these are the Bagobos who live along the slopes of Mount Apo. Being the most colorfully dressed among the tribes, their hand-woven abaca garments are embroidered with geometric patterns and adorned with beads, shells and metal disks. The Bagobos are farmers who live in the hinterlands of Davao. The Guiangans, or Obos, like the Bagobos, are forest-dwellers. The Mandayas and the Mansakas, the more musically-inclined among the tribes, are skilled silversmiths. They inhabit the eastern areas of Davao del Norte and the remote mountain clearings of Davao Oriental. West of Davao del Norte is the Atas while along the shores of Davao Gulf dwell the Kalangans. The Manobos, also known as the Manubas or Man-subas (suba, meaning river in the Visayan dialect), are river-dwellers who are closely related to the Atas. Samal Island is occupied by the Samals while the Maguindanaoans inhabit parts of Davao Gulf and Saranggani Islands.

Like most indigenous tribes anywhere else in the world, these lumads face the constant struggle of protecting their ancestral lands from being plundered by unscrupulous new settlers, and by trying hard to preserve their culture in the changing world of traditions.

Davao and & Location

Land

Davao is located in the south-eastern corner of the island of Mindanao, in a region that also comprises the provinces of Davao, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, South Cotabato, Sarangani and General Santos City. A well-endowed land, the province is bordered by swamps, jungles, sandy beaches, and high mountain ranges, most significant of which is Mount Apo, the country's highest peak at 10,311 feet above sea level. The city sits at the mouth of Davao Gulf, in the north-eastern part of Davao Province.

A total land area of 244,000 hectares makes it the world's second most extensive city and the country's fastest growing trade centre for East ASEAN Growth Area (EAGA), an economic trade union participated in by Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. Its mild, pleasant climate with evenly distributed rainfall and low incidence of typhoons is ideal for agriculture.

In the south of the city, one can find the biggest tracts of arable lands where huge fruit plantations and ornamental flower gardens are located. Aside from bananas and pomelos (a kind of local grapefruit), other plantation products include abaca, ramie, corn, rice, coffee and coconuts. Its orchid gardens yield a wide variety of rare and endemic species such as the waling-waling (Vanda Sanderiana).


Fishing is also a major industry. Panga, the tuna fish's jaws, and the bariles, its belly, shares top-billing status with the redolence "King of Fruits" the durian. Davao's fine natural harbour, sheltered by Samal Island, makes it an international port where the region's agricultural, marine and manufacturing products are shipped. There are three government ports and 11 private ports servicing both interisland and foreign-bound vessels.

The city is at its coolest from November to February, when temperature averages 25^o Celsius and is at its hottest from March to May, when temperature rises from 28-32^o Celsius. August is the best month to observe local culture in all its splendour as the city celebrates Kadawayan sa Dabaw, a fruit and flower festival held every second week of August. It features street dancing, tribal shows, and an agro-industrial fair.

 

History Of Davao

 Local historians claim that the word Davao came from the phonetic blending of the word of three Bagobo subgroups when referring to Davao River, an essential waterway which empties itself into Davao Gulf near the city.

The aboriginal Obos who inhabit the hinterlands of the region called the river, Davoh; the Clatta or Guiangans called it Duhwow, or Davau, and the Tagabawa Bagobos, Dabu. To the Obos, the word davoh also means a place "beyond the high grounds", alluding to the settlements located at the mouth of Davao River which were surrounded by high rolling hills. When asked where they were going, the usual reply is davoh, while pointing towards the direction of the town. Duhwow also refers to a trading settlement where they barter their forest goods in exchange for salt or other commodities.

Spanish influence was hardly felt in the Davao until 1847, when an expedition led by Don Jose Oyanguren came to establish a Christian settlement in an area of mangrove swamps that is now Bolton Riverside. Davao was then ruled by a Moro chieftain, Datu Bago, who held his settlement at the banks of Davao River (once called Tagloc River by the Bagobos). After Oyanguren defeated Datu Bago, he renamed the region Nueva Guipozcoa, in honour of his home in Spain, and became its first governor. Oyanguren's efforts to develop the area, however, did not prosper.

Farm ownership grew and transportation and communication facilities were improved, thus paving the way for the region's economic growth.

A Japanese entrepreneur named Kichisaburo Ohta was granted permission to exploit vast territories which he transformed into abaca and coconut plantations. The first wave of Japanese plantation workers came onto its shores in 1903, creating a Japan kuo, or Little Japan. They had their own school, newspapers, an embassy, and even a Shinto Shrine. On the whole, they established extensive abaca plantations around the shores of Davao Gulf and developed large-scale commercial interests such as copra, timber, fishing and import-export trading. Filipinos learned the techniques of improved cultivation from the Japanese so that ultimately, agriculture became the lifeblood of the province's economic prosperity.

Davao was formally inaugurated as a charter city in March 16, 1937 by President Elpidio Quirino. Thirty years later, Davao was subdivided into three independent provinces, namely Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental. Over the years, Davao has become an ethnic melting pot as it continues to draw migrants from all over the country, lured by the prospects of striking it rich in the country's third largest city.