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DELIGHTFUL DAVAO
PHOTOS BY JOREM CATILO AND (CHURCH) JOJIE ALCANTARA.
ON MODEL: TOP BY RIVER ISLAND; SCARF BY COTTON ON;
ACCESSORIES BY JINGGOY SALVADOR.
Yet for years Davao has been
heralded as the country’s most
liveable city, earning nicknames like
“the Singapore of the Philippines”.
And for all the brochure-ready
figures that have been trotted out to
support this claim, it’s the gushing
testimonials — about the sense of
safety, the light traffic flow, the low
cost of living, the generally good air
quality, all that
space
— of young
urbanites who’ve relocated from
Manila to Davao that truly piqued
my curiosity. So what makes this
enormous place tick? I’ve journeyed
here to feast my eyes on the urban
sprawl laid out in the shadow of
Mount Apo, the real city that exists
beyond urban myth and regional
prejudice. In short, I’ve come with the
intention of answering that question
for myself.
At first glance
As I emerge fromFrancisco Bangoy
airport on a Thursday evening, Davao
seems strangely quiet, disconcertingly
orderly, almost un-Philippine. There
are no taxi touts in the spotless car
park; everything’s in its proper place.
Tank-like SUVs, compact jeepneys
and trikes loaded with travelers purr
down the gentle gradient into town.
No motorbikes, no noise, no sleaze; a
ubiquitous calm prevails.
Ahead of my trip, I’d imagined
the city as some kind of southern
re-creation of MetroManila’s Fort
Bonifacio, a quasi-American theme
park of consumer contentment, but it
feels significantly older, or at least more
lived-in. Even so, it comes as a surprise
when I learn that the Apo ViewHotel
on J Camus Street, built in 1948, is the
Philippines’ second-oldest hotel.
Another revelation is the scale of
the city proper. Metro Davao’s wider
outskirts cover 244,000km
2
— you
can get a measure of its ridiculous
scale from Jack’s Ridge, aWWII
bastion-turned-viewing point — but it’s
possible to breeze through Davao City,
its business and commercial district,
in just minutes even with the sleep-
inducing 30kph speed limit in the
downtown area. Of all the compliments
paid to Davao by new residents, the
near-absence of traffic snarls is the
most frequently heard. Here the flow
of vehicles only grinds to a halt near
Clockwise from top left: a fine-feathered friend
at the Malagos Garden Resort in Calinan; an
outsize replica of Michelangelo’s “David” on the
baywalk; going bananas at Saging Repablik with
its all-banana menu; a boat to Talicud Island; at
Malagos’ butterfly sanctuary. Facing page: San
Pedro Church
