Ruben Gonzaga, known as the Komedyanteng Promdi and Davao City’s pride is Pinoy Big Brother’s Big winner and the first ever male to become the winner of this reality TV show in  ABS-CBN.

Ruben, wacky and down to earth, who is unassuming and is definitely proud of his roots as a Dabawenyo captured the hearts of the show’s viewers as he displayed his love for his family over material things and this good-naturedness.

Garnering over 500thousand votes and besting 15 other celebrities and mind you big celebrities coming from Manila, Ruben has really won the people’s approval.

When Kuya of the Big Brother House announced and presented Ruben as the Big winner in Araneta, a moment of real bliss was felt in every Dabawenyo’s household who chose to watch closely the Big Night on January 5, 2008.

Ruben indeed represents every Dabawenyo’s true characteristcs - down to earth, family oriented, and naturally a happy people.

Congratulations Ruben, you made us very proud of you. 

Davao City may not be the Christmas capital of the Philippines neither it has the noisiest way of celebrating the Christmas Eve since Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has banned any firecrackers in the city for several years now, but for sure Dabawenyos has its own way of making the city festive in this season of holidays.

First, the good mayor has his own way of making every Dabawenyo happy this Christmas with his Pahalipay sa Pasko ni Mayor Rodrigo Duterte with its various activities for all, young and olds alike. There’s the sports activities such as Chess and Dama Tournament held in Osmena Park; the basketball tournament held in Almendras Gym; Sipa and Sepak Takraw Tournament held in City Hall Drive and many more.
On December 8, 2007 , the mayor has sponsored the Senior Citizens Olympics wherein the oldies have their own version of sports activities that included basketball and even cheering contest. This is the only city in the whole Philippines that have this kind of activity for the senior citizens.

Davao City has its own way also of making the city festive as several establishments here in Davao City decorated their facade with colorful and lively Christmas decorations.

The Mana Davao Antique located in Lanang, Davao City has become a tourist attraction with its seven giant Christmas trees full of decors and lights. The shop has spent almost Php 500,000 for these decorations and their electric bill reached Php 100,000 a month but the owner doesn’t mind these expenses at all since this has brought joy to the Dabawenyos.

Yes, the eco-park ( worth about Php 72 million) in Palma Gil St., has its name and they call it People’s Park.

This name has been chosen from the more that three thousand entries submitted for search for the park’s name contest held sometime in September and this entry from a seventy-five year old man has won the judges’ and more so the mayor’s heart.

The park has its soft opening last Saturday, December 15, 2007 with Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s unveiling and revealing to the public  the name of the park.

No entrance fee will be collected from visitors and this is probably good news to everybody but the good mayor would like to inform anyone who wish to visit that there are surveillance cameras in almost all corners of the park. These are not meant to intrude the visitor’s privacy but they are installed to secure and to maintain the park’s facilities and amenities.

There are also three things that the mayor would like the visitors to observe - 1) don’t do obscene things in the park, 2) don’t bring alcoholic liquor inside the park, and 3) don’t destroy anything inside the park.

No food stalls are seen in the park as the mayor doesn’t want to create controversies over these things and so he advised visitors to bring their own food as long as  we should take care of our own garbage as there are a lot of trash bins inside the park. Visitors are also not allowed to bring bottles and glasses as it will cause peril to young children.

Elderly visitors won’t have any problems roaming the whole park as there are caregivers in uniform designated by the mayor to assist them free of charge.

This is indeed another Davao City’s pride and Dabawenyos must join hand with the mayor in preserving this park.

We will be having our Christmas Party this Saturday and so my friends and I marched to downtown even if there was a threatening  nationwide transport strike to buy our gifts for the Christmas Kris Kringle.

We were not worried that we can’t go home since there are buses deployed by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte but arriving in downtown area, we never really felt the tension on the strike as there are many public utility vehicles around.

My friends are among the many Dabawenyos who became crazy over these imported flip - flops from Brazil - Havaianas - and just discovered Martish Marketing located in Villa Margarita, Bajada, Davao City.

This humble hotel which has an egg-shaped pool at the back is the location of a small office that has many supplies of Havaiana slippers. Although the space is very limited but any Havaianas fan would really have a great feast on the wide array of selections of these popular slippers, thus many practitioners flocked in the room just to be able to buy their most coveted pair.

Young and old alike, women tagging their children even their husbands were among the crowd who never minded this little space just to purchase the tongs, not minding even if prices range from Php 450 ( smallest size for the baby) - Php 1,195 (high). Of course for those who feel that price does not matter at all for quality and comfort count most, then these flip-flops are for you.

Now if you are thinking of what would be the best gift you could give this Christmas, then maybe you could include this pair of slippers in your list.

When I was very young, I lived in the heart of Davao City. That time the heart of Davao City is C.M. Recto Street, popularly known as Claveria. This is where almost business establishments in Davao City were situated. Popular grocery store was Datu Complex(Bolton St.); refreshment center - Merco (Bolton); almost all theaters were located in Claveria. Bolton St. is just within the vicinity of Claveria. Of course, there’s San Pedro Cathedral and the City Hall, located in San Pedro and just near Claveria too

In the early 90’s, J.P. Laurel Ave. (known as Bajada) stole the limelight at the rise of Victoria Plaza and then later the Gaisano Mall of Davao. There also stood several hotels and inns and the Pryce Tower and Landco. These business establishments sprawled in Bajada, thus making it popular to investors.

As more and more businesses are opened here in the city, another part of Davao City is rising to become Davao’s next business center. I am talking about Damosa Gateway, located in Lanang, Davao City.

Just a five minute drive from the airport, Damosa Gateway features almost all the things one needs. There’s the Market Basket, a one-stop supermarket. There’s this wide array of food stations. There’s a gym for health conscious individuals, a wi-fi station (Coffee Dream), spa centers and even stores that sells souvenir items.

The construction of Microtel, a small hotel, is going but it is almost finished and  I could almost feel its elegance.

If you happen to think about of putting a business here in Davao, then Damosa Gateway is surely one of the best locations here.

We wanted to feature Davao City’s Eco-Park located at Palma Gil Street., which used to be the PTA Grounds where sports activitivies in Davao City are usually held. And so we need to get pictures for our school paper.

And oh just when I entered the place (construction is going on by the way) I was totally mesmerized as if I entered a new world. I felt like a kid who just couldn’t contain her excitement over this grandeur sight. The colors and the lively work of arts of Davao City’s premiere artists mostly the works of Kublai Millan, who just happened to be my schoolmate in Davao City National High School, are actually the highlight of the park.

Those giants and bigger than life sculptures which clearly pictures the culture of Davao City are indeed world-class and one could actually imagine that some magical hands have worked their way to create such beauty.

I felt goose bumps all over me as I roam around the place all alone and I felt like I own the whole place. I never really mind the searing heat of the noon’s sun for I wanted to inspect every detail of the park and its giant sculptures.

A man in charge of the gate informed me that the park will be opened to the public on December 8 this year. I really couldn’t wait for it. See these more photos and have a peek on the park.

Davao City will host the 6^th National Student Technologists and  Entrepreneurs of the Philippines –National Skills Development Competition ( STEP-NSDC)  on November 19-24, 2007. The