I Am Blogie

The Kadayawan sa Dabaw festival logo shown here is a let-down — to say the least — for about 300 respondents who answered a survey I ran via the Kadayawan Festival facebook page from last week. (Click here to see the poll — and feel free to chime in.) I held off writing about it until I got the pulse of the people, so to speak.

This year’s festival director, Lisette Marques, showed the logo to me a few days before it was publicized, and I told her right then and there: it’s going to get a lot of negative vibes. And it seems I was right. Like many later on, I asked her then why the logo needed to be changed. In her best estimation, she said the decision to change the logo came “from the top” and most probably had to do with the city’s current branding efforts.

I remember back in 2008, the original logo was modified to give it a more updated look — but even that failed because the result looked like a half-baked effort at making the festival branding fly.

The aforementioned branding efforts, unfortunately, might suffer a major blow if Kadayawan 2011′s festivities are tainted by an ill-received symbolic image. Many of those who answered “I don’t like it” in the facebook survey lament the logo’s lack of festiveness, its bland appearance, the complete departure from its purpose of making the Kadayawan sa Dabaw a recognizable event in the country. Others expressed disillusionment, and still others conveyed confusion over the unexpected mutilation of the 20-year-old festival’s banner.

Sun•Star Davao, in its 29 July 2011 editorial, brands the switcheroo an unnecessary political gambit by the local powers-that-be. “How insecure to paint an already popular festival with the color of politics as if the present mayor needs the popularity of Kadayawan to prop up her own.” The paper was alluding to Mayor Sara Duterte’s notoriety (or popularity, if you think the mayor’s violence was acceptable), acquired from the very start of this month.

I personally have no knowledge whether the new logo’s particular hue of green simply coincided with the Duterte campaign color, or it was intentional. Either way, “the logo sucks,” to quote a Dabawenyo facebook user.

And what about the new tagline?

Kadayawan sa Dabaw used to be tagged “the festival of festivals”. Now it’s being touted as “the king of festivals”. Several people seem to like it, possibly because they believe Dabawenyos should aim high. On the other hand, some feel that the claim is a bit too much. Especially with a new logo that’s far from being kingly.

My personal view, which was formed and has not changed since I saw the logo for the first time, is this: It is completely unacceptable as a representation of the Kadayawan sa Dabaw festival. It lacks creativity and fails to inspire pride among Dabawenyos. I’m afraid it’s not one that will attract visitors to celebrate the festival with us at all.

Allow me to say, however, despite my deep disappointment, I trust that the vibrant colors of this year’s festivities will more than make up for the drabness of this monochromatic logo.

[NEWS RELEASE]

Reaffirms Its Commitment to the premier city and hub of Mindanao

IBM kicked off its centenary celebrations in the Mindanao Region last 21 July 2011 with an IBM Comes To You (ICTY) event for clients and business partners in Davao City, as part of the company’s commitment to help bring smarter business and technology solutions to local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in key areas outside of Metro Manila. The event featured the IBM Mobile Solutions Kiosk and was held at the Marco Polo Hotel, Davao City.

The ICTY roadshow series is part of the company’s geographic expansion strategy to bring expertise and technology solutions to clients outside metropolitan areas at greater speed and efficiency. It showcases IBM’s comprehensive set of offerings, including hardware, software and services tailored for the SMEs.

“Businesses based outside the National Capital Region (NCR) see great value in information technology as a way to increase competitiveness and as an enabler for a smarter planet. It is our strategy to work more closely with the city and our clients outside Metro Manila and to empower them to drive innovation and business efficiencies, that is why we continue to bring various initiatives to this region,” said Joy Bellosillo, Geo Expansion Leader, IBM Philippines.

Mindanao is an important market for IBM. The company is committed to help businesses and governments in the region grow and innovate through its extensive network of technical consultants and engineers, resellers, integrated software vendors and distributors in Davao, the region’s main business hub.

The ICTY Davao leg is in line with IBM’s mission to increase smarter technology adoption in the region across all industries with strong focus on the retail industry.

According to the Philippine Retail Association (PRA), the retail industry is experiencing significant growth in the Philippines, mainly due to rapid urbanization happening especially in growth areas like Davao. It is also an important contributor to the Philippine economy as it accounts for roughly 15% of the country’s total Gross National Product (GNP) and 33% of the entire services sector. It employs some 5.25 million people, representing a significant 18% of the country’s work force, which means roughly 2 out of every ten (10) workers is employed in the retail industry.

“We are in the age of the ‘empowered customer’ where the consumer expectations have accelerated rapidly over the past 10 years. Consumers are demanding greater flexibility and choice, creating opportunities for companies of all sizes to innovate and change the way consumers connect, interact and transact. Successful companies are staying competitive by transforming their approach to commerce. At IBM we call the path forward: Smarter Commerce — a strategic approach that places the customer at the center of a retailer’s business operations. IBM’s new smarter commerce approach and innovative standards-based technologies specifically designed for retail will enable retailers in Davao and other emerging markets in the Mindanao region to deliver better and more meaningful customer experiences,” Bellosillo added.

IBM’s commitment and focus in the Mindanao region reaches beyond the business frontiers — it extends to the community. In 2008, IBM deployed a team of 10 top-performing employees from various parts of the world to Davao for the IBM Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program. The volunteers were deployed to Davao Tourism Council to collaborate and work on strategic plans to establish a roadmap/framework for a master plan to achieve the council’s objectives. Another CSC team is set to be deployed in Davao in September.

IBM is also one of the founding members within ICT councils in the southern region. In November 26, 2009, IBM Philippines, Davao City Chamber of Commerce, Inc. (DCCCII) and ICT Davao, Inc. launched an SME Technology Center in Davao City. The center aims to help local enterprises to leverage IT as a strategic business enabler by providing partners and developers a facility to increase homegrown software development using IBM technology as a platform. The IBM-powered facility is located at DCCCII Building, Bajada, Davao City,

The company regularly partners with local ICT groups, government, business chambers and academic institutions to actively promote and harness technology for the region’s business and economic growth.

For more information, please visit www.ibm.com.

I wrote an article about mooring buoys and the destruction caused by anchors for the Save the Philippine Seas site. The backdrop is the Davao Gulf, but the situation, I believe, can be applied anywhere in the country (or the world, for that matter). Please click below to read the post:

Why we need mooring buoys

Thanks to Twitter, I found another diver who has seen Davao Gulf underwater and has blogged quite beautifully about it. The diver is Chris Mitchell (@divehappy), and his article is linked below:

Davao Scuba Diving, Philippines – The New Muck Diving Destination

The Davao Reef Divers Club is deeply concerned about the state of the marine environment in Davao Gulf. That’s why they regularly conduct scubasurero activities and talk to fellow divers about the importance of protecting marine life.

Last 17 July 2011 (Sunday), the club had its monthly club dive at a beach resort on Samal Island, and the main objective was to deploy 20 cement domes that would serve as artificial reefs. There was also an advanced test-run that was conducted last 13 July.

Here are some photos taken above- and underwater, by Ursula, one of the club members.

The Davao Reef Divers installed five artificial reefs composed of 4 domes each, arranged like a pyramid. The club hopes that the artificial reef domes will encourage the fish population to pick up in this area. The club’s members have agreed to do once-a-month monitoring of the artificial reefs to gather data and see how best to improve on the idea.

Kudos to the club and to Carabao Dive Center for this commendable effort!

I’ve been crazy about scuba diving for some months now, but I’m still very much a WordPress fanatic. Take a look at this dive photo of me and my underwater WordPress notebook, shot by the awesome diver-photographer, Bing Peña last 16 July 2011 at Angel’s Cove.

No, the guys at Automattic haven’t come up with a waterproof notebook — I just put a WP sticker on my Titan diver’s notebook, which I use for documenting stuff underwater. But hey, that would be a nice schwag for diver-bloggers, no?

Speaking of which, I’ve started another WordPress-powered blog, Scuba DAVAO, which is open to contributions from Dabawenyo divers or divers who love the Gulf of Davao.

WordPress notebook

Davao Gulf is home to dozens of dive spots. But more importantly, it is the habitat of thousands and thousands of marine species. The sad fact is, the marine ecosystem beneath the waters of the gulf is steadily being eroded. That’s why I’ve taken up the challenge to help preserve the gulf’s marine life through Scuba DAVAO, and through another movement called Save the Philippine Seas (whose site is also powered by WordPress).

Last 9 July 2011, sensationalism reared its ugly head once more when Inquirer News — one of the more established news organizations in the country, both online and offline — published an article that may have damaged the reputation of a straight arrow in Davao City’s judiciary.

Inquirer News article, 9 July 2011

The news article itself was far from being the result of shoddy reporting, but the headline and the sub-head were very damaging, and moronic. The article was by-the-book reportage, stating how the judge interviewed by the reporter viewed the unfortunate handling by court sheriff Abe Andres of the 1-July demolition order of squatters’ homes in Barangay Soliman, Agdao, Davao City.

The article, however, assumed that the judge was allying himself with the violence-prone mayor. Far from it. The judge in question merely stated his informed legal opinion that the demolition order was not implemented according to lawful practices. On the other hand and in spite of this, he stood up for the sheriff in a way that nobody has ever considered in this whole unfortunate mess: the judiciary and the executive branches of government are necessarily autonomous.

The title that the Inquirer came up with, therefore, was an oxymoron to the article. Why in the world would a news article, which clearly portrays a judge defending a court sheriff, have a heading that reads “Davao judge ‘shoots’ the sheriff”?!?

What makes matters worse is the factual error on the part of this news organization. The judge interviewed for the article is the city’s executive judge, Isaac G. Robillo II. The sub-headline of the article reads “Demolition was illegal, says judge who ordered it”. Judge Robillo did not order the demolition. The writ of demolition, as everyone who’s been following this knows, was issued by Judge Emmanuel Carpio.

To be fair to the Inquirer, the people behind their social media efforts did respond quickly to our call to attention on Twitter. My cousin, Michael Aquino, shares the curated tweets here. One thing, however: those same people blamed their Mindanao Bureau (which they erroneously called the “Davao bureau”) for the factual error. Wrong. The article per se was more or less factual. It was the headline and sub-head that were blatantly and stupidly sensationalist. My source says that Inquirer news headlines are written by headline writers in Manila.

I must disclose that Judge Robillo is my uncle, my father’s older brother. However, this does not in any way influence my unbiased view of what is proper reporting and what isn’t. I have always pushed for more conscientious coverage of Mindanao news by national agencies. And for this, I was once invited to participate in the nation’s annual forum of decision-makers in the news industry, Media Nation.

To tell you how much of a straight arrow my uncle is, allow me to relate to you a story that broke my heart several years ago.

A young friend of mine, Harold, who was then a bubbly, wide-eyed fresh graduate of a Japanese-language course, went through living hell. I’d heard he’d been retained by a manpower agency to be their examiner for their in-house language classes. Turns out it was a recruitment outfit with illegal activities, and one day their office was raided by the police. Harold was there during the raid, because he was evaluating their exam papers. He was not hired by the agency, and he absolutely knew nothing of their operations — all he was asked to do was conduct the Japanese-language examinations for their recruits. But the police arrested Harold along with the agency’s owners. Despite the owners’ attesting to Harold’s non-involvement in their operations, the police still hauled him to jail.

It was almost seven days before I found out, but I rushed to the police barracks right away, and managed to sweet-talk the police to let my friend visit with me outside the cramped cell. I could barely contain my tears as Harold answered me when I asked him why he was craning his neck to see out the window. He had not seen the sun for a week. You would feel damaged, too, if you knew Harold: a hopeful, fun-loving, eager-to-learn young man who came from lowly beginnings but never let that limit his dreams.

Right after that, I went straight to my uncle to try and plead with him to intervene for Harold. Short of shooting me down, Judge Robillo did not even let me talk to him about the case. The first hint he got that I was going to talk about a pending court case, he asked me gently but very firmly to not discuss it with him. The case wasn’t even in his docket.

Harold stayed in jail for three months. I almost hated my uncle for that. But knowing him, and knowing how my family has always valued integrity, I understood completely why he could not, and did not, interfere with the law.

My uncle is well aware of the flaws in the law, or in the way the law is implemented. He is keenly aware of how “due process” poses many difficulties for Filipinos. But Judge Robillo has always exercised sound judgement in upholding the law, and will continue to champion it as Executive Judge of the Regional Trial Courts of Davao City.

In behalf of my family, I call on the Inquirer to publish an erratum and an apology to Judge Isaac G. Robillo II.

Celdran with new tour guides

Carlos Celdran provided valuable input to the local tourism industry when he visited Davao City from 6 to 9 July 2011. On the 8th, the Department of Tourism – Region 11 arranged a powwow for Carlos and a new batch of graduates of DOT-11′s tour guiding program.

In his usual effervescent self, Carlos related to a rapt audience how he developed his signature tours of Old Manila, and gave the new tour guides insightful tips on how to conduct informative yet entertaining tours. Hopefully, he has planted seeds of innovative ideas in the minds of those present that day.

Artists All

Also quite well-known (or notorious, depending on who’s talking) for his advocacy to get Congress to pass the Reproductive Health and Responsible Parenthood bill, Carlos gamely welcomed questions about his legal tussle with the Catholic Church. He mentioned that he was delighted with Davao City for having had its own reproductive health ordinance for some years now.

As a token of appreciation, the group gifted Carlos with a framed abstract painting by Davao artist, Rey Aranda.

Serendipitous convergence

On 7 July, having dinner at Ronaldo’s on F. Torres St., I asked Carlos and his wife Tesa, DOT-11 regional director Art Boncato and About.com travel writer, Michael Aquino, if they knew a certain Michael Grosberg of Lonely Planet. Since we were all together to talk about the future of Davao tourism, it was but natural to bring up hearing about a popular travel publication, especially when one of its writers was in town. None of them knew Michael Grosberg, but I’d heard he was in Davao from Jackie Dizon (Maxima Beach House, Crocodile Park, etc.) and from my favorite dive shop that same day.

About the time when dessert was served, a man who had been having dinner alone in the restaurant approached our little group. Hearing your name bandied around by a party of chatty patrons, you’d be curious too. It was Michael Grosberg.

Dinner at Ronaldo's

What were the chances, right??

Our evening became even more interesting with the second Michael in the group. He had been sent to Davao to update the city’s entry on Lonely Planet, which I hope will include some of the tidbits we were able to share with him. For example, I explained to Michael why, on that street where we were, the row of restaurants is punctuated by a funeral home.

(F. Torres Street was a lonely road way back when, and as far as I can remember, the funeral parlor had been there forever. Filipinos being the way they are with funerals, the need for places to eat nearby brought about the mushrooming of food establishments in the area. Of course, it also helps that one of Davao’s culinary institutions, Harana, had also been on that street since time immemorial.)

It was an evening of memorable conversation and exhilarating exchange of ideas. Too bad, though, that I wasn’t able to bring Michael G. scuba diving. He did, however, go on a white-water run with Sonny Dizon the following day.

Next steps

Carlos & co.’s tour of Davao and Samal ended with a luxurious and sumptuous feast at the newly-reopened Café Marco on 8 July 2011. We were treated to a spectacular buffet that I’m sure people will be talking about for the next few weeks. Kudos to Marco Polo Hotel Davao for uplifting the city’s culinary experience!

Speaking with Director Boncato afterwards, we plan to follow through with some of Carlos Celdran’s ideas for Davao tourism. One of which is this: preserve the city’s history.

I’ve also promised to help the DOT in teaching the tour guides of the Davao region in using social media to level-up their chosen profession.

Diver & sea fan

Tourism is a great thing for any destination: it brings in tourist dollars, thus stimulating economic activity, thus creating more jobs for locals. However, tourism can also turn unsustainable. It’s when the destination’s environment is eroded, thereby becoming less and less attractive to tourists. It should be noted that one of the causes of this are tourists themselves!

Several times now, I’ve witnessed divers (I’ll avoid stating their nationalities here, for fear of being labeled as racist or xenophobic, which I’m not) causing mindless damage to coral reefs. Last Sunday, two foreign divers, who were with us on the regular weekend dive tour, appeared to be more than just sightseeing under the sea. One of them had a sea cucumber in his hands. When I looked at his companion, he was in the act of picking up a live scallop. And when he did, his fin accidentally hit a coral that looked like a young staghorn, and tore it clean out of its roots.

It seems that these people couldn’t care any less about the environment. Both of them had excellent trim underwater, no problem at all with their neutral buoyancy. Meaning, hitting that beautiful coral was clearly a lack of concern on their part.

The clam the diver picked up looked like this

And what about taking sea creatures out of their habitats? I almost couldn’t stop myself from throwing the scallop and sea cucumber overboard when I saw it at the back of the boat after our dive. The scallop was bigger than my hand, kind of orange, and had spikes. If it had been a giant clam, I would’ve stopped that diver right in the water, but I wasn’t sure if the species he got was endangered or not. Still, there should be a law against disturbing nature by recreational divers.

Our marine environment is already facing daunting challenges posed by climate change, industrial fishing, soil erosion… We could certainly use one less factor that wreaks havoc on our beautiful coral reefs.

On a positive note, last weekend’s dives were a treat for me and my buddies. Last Saturday was my first time to see a moray eel up close, and a sea snake. The latter proved to be quite shy, although it is reportedly one of the most lethal in the world. There were quite a few trumpetfish around, too — about a foot or so long, and each one a different color pattern.

And on Sunday, I was able to take a close-up picture of a nudibranch and a commensal shrimp. Not the best macro photography samples, not by a mile, but I’m sharing it here anyway. I do need to practice my neutral buoyancy more, though.

Davao’s coral reefs have a chance of surviving, and one way of ensuring that is by making it known in clear terms to recreational divers — foreign and local — that they must respect marine life at all times. I hope to be able to get Davao’s dive shops and dive boat operators to support my plan to display posters admonishing divers to do just that.

Carlos Celdran is in town to get to know the cities of Davao and Samal, with the aim of (hopefully) tailoring a new kind of tour. Carlos is well-known in the capital for his unique walking tours of Old Manila. Those tours have gained popularity, not only because of their uniqueness, but also thanks to Carlos’ brand of humor and charisma.

A couple months ago, my cousin had a brainstorm. Michael Aquino works for About.com as its travel writer for Southeast Asia, and he pined for an off-the-beaten-track type of sightseeing tour for Davao, akin to what Carlos was doing in Manila. Well, what better way to do that but to get the man himself on board!

The blogger with Carlos & Mike

Through Facebook and Twitter, Mike and I were able to pique Carlos’ interest in Davao, as well as solicit the support of the indefatigable regional director of Department of Toursim – Region 11, Art Boncato, Jr.

Davao City’s tourism, in my opinion, has remained unchanged for too long. We need something different here, we need to do something new in order to attract tourists to come to Davao and stay for a bit longer. From what I’ve observed, travelers come to the city and hie off to other places. While that’s also a good thing, on the other hand, I think they’re missing out on some truly Dabawenyo experiences.

Why did we bring Carlos Celdran to Davao? I believe it’s very good practice to listen to somebody from the outside, someone who has a fresh perspective, someone who might see what’s been under our noses all this time.

Kudos to DOT-Region 11 for putting together this familiarization tour! With Dir. Boncato at the helm, the Davao Region’s tourism industry is a sure winner.

Squat Shrimp (photo from Wikipedia)

Last week, my dive buddies and I saw a cluster of fascinating critters: really tiny orange, white-spotted shrimp with upturned tails, all congregated around a tube anemone. Our dive master told us later that those were squat shrimp (Thor amboinensis). No bigger than the tip of my finger, they were just crouched there among the anemone’s tentacles, but they jumped one after another when the DM gently swept a stick across the bunch.

Yesterday I saw more squat shrimp, but only two of them, and on top of another type of anemone that I have yet to identify (it was round and flat with thick tentacles, with splotches of purple — kind of like the one in the photo here). The two shrimp looked like they were feeding, but one of them kept wriggling its underbelly while it flitted from one spot to another atop the anemone. And then today again, I saw quite a lot of them! On both occasions, it was at Angel’s Cove.

I wish I had an underwater camera housing for my LX3! There are so many undersea wonders to capture visually, so it gets a bit frustrating during dives when I see something that would be awesome to share with everyone…and I can’t. But, I’m going to hold off on this purchase, because the diving gear alone isn’t exactly a walk in the park to pay for.

First set of diving gear

Speaking of which, I’ve finally completed my scuba equipment — my very first set! And, after a month of diving (not counting my dozen or so “intro” dives over the years), I broke them in today. I’d already gotten the basic stuff (mask & snorkel, fins, booties.) a fortnight ago, then my brother couriered me my Tusa BCD from a clearance sale by Scuba World late last week. Then this weekend, the Carabao Dive Center gave me a really good deal that I simply couldn’t refuse, on a Cressi regulator assembly, a Scuba Max three-gauge console (depth, pressure, compass), and a Scuba Max octopus.

The dive shop assembled the regulators and gauges for me, and even threw in a couple of colorful hose protectors for free. You gotta love those guys at Carabao!

Here’s my checklist of scuba gear & accessories:

The underwater notebook is über handy, and I use it to document my dives, and for jotting down observations and stuff. I’m just hoping either — or both — of my two dive buddies will get an underwater housing for their cameras soon, so that our journals here could be super colorful. ;)