52
DELIGHTFUL DAVAO
A growing number of Filipinos are trading in big-city living for
the eternal summer vibe of Davao. Jonathan Evans makes a long-
overdue first visit to find out what the fuss is all about
Southern
comforts
T
hree times bigger than
MetroManila, six times
the size of Cebu, one of
the largest metropolitan
areas not just in Asia
but in the world, the Philippines’
fastest-growing city and, thanks to
a zero-tolerance approach to law
enforcement, the planet’s ninth safest
city as recently as 2014. Davao: to those
who’ve never visitedMindanao, the
region’s premier city is perhaps better
known for its statistics — and a certain
sterility — than the flavor of its streets.
It doesn’t help that its remote
location in the country’s deep south-
east makes it somewhat tricky to get to.
After landing inManila, a newcomer
to the archipelago is more likely to hop
on a short flight bound for the idyllic
islands of Boracay and Bohol than
spend another two hours on a plane to
get from the capital to Davao City (that
said, stats show that Davao welcomed
two million tourists in 2014). To some
avowed city folk living inMetroManila,
Davao’s even something of a punchline.
It’s backward and unsophisticated,
they say, a big city with a small-town
mindset and little buzz.
