Anybody who reads this site regularly knows that I love Davao, it is a place really close to my heart. I consider myself a Dabawenyo at heart, no doubt about that. I am starting to get a little bit concerned about Davao, though. I am seeing a Davao that is developing quickly – too quickly. In the afternoons, if I choose to go out anytime between about 4pm until 7pm, even up to 8pm, it can take a long, long time to navigate around the city. Roads are being widened, new roads built, etc., but traffic congestion is getting bad here.
I used to really love Cebu City. I stayed in Cebu many times during the 90’s for a few days at a time. I remember my first time in Cebu, it was in July 1990. I stayed at the Montebello Villa Hotel in Banilad, Cebu City. The place was out in the middle of nowhere. The area surrounding the hotel was just bare land with grazing cattle and goats. It took 30 minutes to get to the City. Now, if I go to Cebu, the Montebello is right in the middle of the sprawling City. The City has grown to surround the area. Traffic is terrible. Pollution is getting worse in Cebu. I am seeing this same kind of develop in Davao. What happened to Cebu in the 1990s is ongoing in Davao right now.
I have a contingency plan for myself, though. As most of you already know, Feyma and I own a piece of land on Samal Island, just a 10 to 15 minute boat ride from Davao City. That 10 or 15 minutes, though, brings you to an entirely differnet place. No traffic. Pollution free. Clean water. A total lack of hustle and bustle that you find in the City. It will be a while before we will live there, but by the time we get there, I think that living in Davao City will be an entirely different experience than it is now.
I moved to Davao City in 2002, after living 2 years in General Santos. Davao was a much bigger City than GenSan, but still relaxed and easy to navigate. Now, though, just 6 1/2 years later, I am finding Davao to be much more developed, a lot more traffic, generally not the same Davao as I moved to in 2002. I am sad about that. Funny thing is, when we see new development going on in Davao, we are happy to see the City expanding, and improving. But, in day to day life, when it takes 2 or 3 times as long to travel the same distance as it used to, the happiness about the development fades away.
I still love Davao, I am just getting concerned. As I have written about in the past month or so here, we have 3 new shopping malls under development, maybe 4 or 5 condo developments in the City, etc. It is making Samal look better and better!
The thing that is inviting about the future of living on Samal is that it is close to the City, so we can still take advantage of the amenities here, yet being separated by a boat ride makes it seem that it is so far from civilization. I like that idea. There has been talk about building a bridge from the City to the Island… to me, that will only help transfer the development accross the Gulf. I don’t think that will be a good idea.
Samal dreaming…
Morning Bob,
You have overlooked the most obvious thing, Bob! You are getting OLD, mate! I'm 45 and I hardly recognise where I lived only 15 years ago because of developmental changes. Go back further and the change is exemplified. My father is 81 now and where he grew up used to be a dairy farm. It has been under concrete and buidings now for over 50 years. Some of these have come and gone too in this period of development. I think what maybe concerns you more, Bob, rather than the natural development over time, is the development "booms" that come and go every decade or so? Rampant development before the bubble bursts and half the developers go broke? Development and urban sprawl are inevitable. Some people make lots of money simply by selling their little farms as the srawl approaches. I feel Samal will stay a pocket of relative isolation. I will fly to the moon if ever a bridge is built – pure speculation I feel. Have a great day, Bob.
Hi Bob- I agree with Aussie Lee time and tide waits for no man and in the words of Bob Dylan "The times they are a changing".
Some call it progress some a nuisance for you its an inconvenience. But Bob if you go to Samal to live and they build the new bridge then what?
Regards.
Jim.
Hi AussieLee- Ha ha… Yes, we are all getting older, no doubt on that. I am one year older than you – 46. Davao is really in a development boom time right now. I like to see improvements in the City, but also long for a simpler life.
Hi Jim Cunningham- We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. 😆
Seriously, I don't think the bridge will be built, at least not anytime soon. If it is, there is also the fact that our land is somewhat remote, so it would likely take some time before the crowds reach that area. Further down the road, there is always the possibility of living on the other side of the island, which is currently almost completely undeveloped.
Oh that's too bad! At least there's still Samal for me to dream about.
Part of the beauty of Samal is the adventure of riding the boat to get there.
Hi again Bob,
Just thinking. Not all places go ahead. Where I live presently in rural Victoria (southern state of Australia) the many small surrounding towns of the local regional centre have all gone backwards over the last thirty years or more. Where once there were many businesses, there are now few and sometimes none. Houses sell for a quarter of their replacement value and no new ones are built. The average population grows olders because there is no employment. Just something for comparison.
Hi Beth- I agree, I love riding on the boat to get to Samal!
Hi AussieLee- While over development is something that I don't like, going backwards is even worse. It's sad to hear about a place like that.
Hi Bob I sympathise with you when I first came to Tagum it was a large town and where I live was just a swamp now I have about 60 families around me and the town is now an ever expanding city we also have lots of building going on, yes it's good to see expansion and the city prosper but it's happening at an alarming rate.
Hi andyp- I hear you! You know what… the day is going to come when it is basically just one big city with Davao and Tagum being connected. Probably from Digos up to Tagum will be one big metro area. As a matter of fact, there has been talk of building a light rail system going from Digos in the south up to Tagum in the north. It will happen… I just hope it won't happen in our lifetime, Andy!
Hi Bob, I have a seriou question for you. I am currently in US Military and will retire next year 09. I have been told that, I do not want to retire in mindano because of high terror threat? really in Davao, (which is where I want to retire) could you give me some real facts and let me know what is really going on there. My wife is from the area and I really have concerns about retireing in the area. Any imput you could give I would appericate. PAUL
Part of DAVAO's growth is fueled by expats like you and I am sure the local government and businesses feel like they have to expand to meet the growing needs of the ever growing expat society in Davao. I just hope that they don't just grow for the sake of growing without proper planning and traffic management. Roadway Engineering should be the foundation and not just build around what's currently there now.
I do feel your concerns though. Part of the beauty of the Philippines is it is not completely developed and there are plenty of islands that are not yet touched by modernization and your part of Davao was once part of it albeit until enterprising businessmen began finding out about the influx of migrants to the city, including expatriates.
I guess, you'll just have to embrace change… then again, theres SAMAL ISLAND.
It's nice that you have a place to fall back to when the need arises.
As always, I love reading your posts!
Hi Paul- Whoever told you that has probably never been here before! Did you know that in the past couple of years Davao has come to be known as the safest city in the Philippines? It's true. If you want to live in the Philippines, and you want a safe place, Davao is the place to be. Frankly, the people who talk about terrorism anywhere near Davao simply are showing how uninformed they are.
Hi Obei- I'm glad that you enjoy the site.
There are more and more expats in Davao, and that probably does have some impact on development, but not too much, I would think.
Yes, Samal is a good fall back for now! 😆
Hi Bob god forbid that ever happens as for the rail link that might nit be a bad thing,
Paul I am in agreement with Bob who ever told you that Mindanao is not safe has obviously never travelled to this part of the Philippines I have been coming to Mindanao for over 20 years and never seen any trouble although it happens, just like any other part of the world ,so why would more and more expats decide to settle here if it was as bad as everyone thinks or hears. Never listen to gossip you only hear the bad things about Mindanao.
Hi andyp- Certainly there are parts of Mindanao that are not for the average foreigner, some of those places are very dangerous. However, those places are nowhere near Davao, and actually take more than day of travel to reach, for the most part.
Hi Bob,As far as the expats part of fuelling the boom in Davao is concerned, i feel that may slow a little because of economic problems in the West ie cannot sell their houses etc,so you may see some developments slow down.Its amazing the quantity of expat style houses for sale there now.I think your move to Samal gets ever closer,regards Chas.
Hi Bob – it will be nice to have a big city to visit, with all that it offers. Just as long as Samal doesn't become an extension. Like you, I think the east side is a fall back plan, as well as Bukidnon (at least from what I've heard of it).
Hi chasdv- That could be true about expats fueling growth. The more I think about it, though, I don't think that expats are fueling growth to a great extend anyway. A lot of the "expat" style houses are also built by OFW's as well, and the OFW crowd probably fuels growth much more than foreigners do.
Hi Randy C- Honestly, as much as I am drawn to Samal, I am torn between Samal and Bukidnon, it's another place that I really love. Too many good choices!
Hi Aussie Lee i am just back from Kalang in out bac kVic . Are you in this area. Price of property there fraction of prices in Meibourne.
Hi Jim Cunningham must be only days before you leave the UK for Phil . I am leaving for UK today as my father has just passed away.
Hi Sir Robert . I was just in spotlessly clean Singapore. I visited lucky Plaza on the Sunday where.all the filopinas gather . Rubbish everywhere . As we disscussed a few weeks ago the culture of the beast
Hi FRANK FEALEY- Very sorry to hear about the death of your father. I hope that your trip to the UK goes smoothly.
Thanks Bob . The day we alldread has arrived.
hi bob,
Sometimes the thing we want does not always happen every time, changes, development, improvement is inevitable, the more people there is, the more development is needed to serve the ever growing population of both locals and foreigners, it is only a matter of accepting it. the good thing though is there's more than 7000 islands in the philippines you can choose from! 😆 i just hope that you can find one island that will suit your needs.
Hi FRANK FEALEY- We dread the day, but it always comes. Good to be prepared as much as possible.
Hi dans- 7 islands or 7,000, it is not always easy to find the right mix! 😆
Hi Frank- So sorry to hear about your father please accept our deepest sympathy.
We leave the UK on Tuesday 25th so as you say not long to go now.
Take care and keep in touch.
Best wishes.
Jim.
Good morning from Spain, Bob. Read your interesting article (as usual). Here in this resort town where I live called Marbella, when I first came here with my English husand 28 years ago, total population was 33,000. Today, we are close to around 350,000—-documented and undocumented onces.Believe me, this place was heaven in those days. It used to be a fishing village, until northern Europeans arrived with lots of cash to settle here, most of them, yes you guessed it, British. Anyway, building boom happened in heaps and bounds, and before we could blink, we were breathing polluted air (cars in those days were few and far between—the spanish, , as I keep emphasizing, didn't own cars in thos days, couldn't afford to dine out regularly, etc. Anyway, this place has now
become dirty—you walk around but you have to look down otherwise you'd be
stepping on dog poop which is believe me, plentiful, too many cars parked
illegally, too many apartment blocks built illegally, too many undocumented non-Spanish, especially from Africa–Senegalese, Kenians, Nigerians, Moroccans and today, the Chinese population has now reached 300,000. Marbella before could count a few Chinese faces, and we only had two chinese restaurants, now they are everywhere. As for those undocumented citizens wanting to live here
there are no more jobs for them since this resort town has been made bankrupt
by two previous administrations which ran this gorgeous resort for over fifteen years. As I said, our mayor has just been released in jail and tonight, he's facing a panel of hard-faced TV commentators to answer countless questions as to why
Marbella has been brought down to its knees by corruption, poor administration, top-rated scandals. Indeed, one never gets the chance to have a peace of mind,
since pieces of the locals' minds have been insulted in many ways than one. Sure,development had its positive aspects, but in it came huge/monumental
corruption. We are now suffering from this humiliation since there are no more celebrities coming to live here: lt me just mention some of the celebrities who used to live here>s Sean Connery, Shirley Bassey, Dolf Lundberg,Cilla Black,
Claudia Schiffer, although Melanie Griffith still comes in Marbella since she has
a home here being married to the lovely Antonio Banderas, who is originally from
Fuengirola, 20 miles from Marbella. Their hous is only over two miles from where
I live but never had the chance to see them in a mall. As for Deborah Kerr, she lived here for several years but moved back to Switzerland where she eventually died;Princess Margaret used to hang out here too as well as Don Johnson. Samuel L Jackson was here twice, and of course George Bush Sr, Charleton Heston, and a host of et als which to our sadness, now prefer to go to Monaco.
Still we are hopeful that prestige comes back to this resort town since we have
a lot to offer. Anyway, the reason why Sean Connery left Marbella was because of
overdevelopment. He hated it so much he left in a huff. I miss him since I had seen him many times over the years. Many famous sportsmen and women still have homes here but they have plans of selling them. We are now ashamed that
corruption spoiled this town and our lady mayor has now made a master plan
to recuperate our "loss"—heheheh.Who is she kidding? Marbella is now begging
for tourists, the many British friends we've got who lived here have left or have decided not to buy property. Electricity, phone, local taxes have gone up above all,
Marbella's Celebrity Status has been so badly dented that nowadays we've stopped praising this resort town. Yes, Bob, there are negatives in economic
development, and for this, my hometown these last 28 years, has been shamelessly put to a nasty test. As of this writing, Antonio Banderas has plans
of selling his mansion. Who knows how many more???
Hi hill roberts- Davao is home to between 1.5 and 2 million people, so if you are suffocating on 350k, you can imagine how it is here! It is this trend that has me a bit concerned that the future Davao is not the place that I chose to live in! I only hope it slows down just a bit! 😆
Part 2, on "Development"–first, my apologies for some typographical errors.(see above)
Malaga province was the poorest province in the Andalucian Region. Andalucia is composed of eight provinces, Sevilla being the capital. Before expats and or tourists came specifically to this province of Malaga, it was really poor. If you see
that old film "A Touch of Class" with Glenda Jackson and George Segal, you'd have an idea of what it used to be. Tourists have contributed tremendously in
the development of this poor province. Amparo Munoz, Miss Universe 1974 (which incidentally was held in the Philippines) was asked who made her
dress. She replied timidly, "mi madre…" so she added that where she came from
(which was Malaga) her province was so poor that majority of the people eked out a living, or selling produce on mounted donkeys, vendors selling fish, etc. Anyway, a wave of development eventually was realised and the politicians of
different ideologies shared the same thing; to develop Andalucia, especially Malaga because of its touristic strategic location. Indeed it was only a fishing village with a large proportion of illiterate locals (Spain, upto the early nineties
had a high illiteracy rate but that topic is for another day). Anyway, many northern
Europeans began pouring in as, bit by bit, towns were being developed: A surge of Germans came, so did many Scandinavians to get away from harsh winter, the Dutch, Belgians, Austrians, and most of all, the British. The Brits form the
largest part of expats —I think it's because they are the most adventurous, most
daring and most open to whatever change takes place in and around their midst.
Anyway, As Malaga's many towns developed, namely, Fuengirola, Estepona, Marbella, Casares, Sotogrande, Torremolinos, Nerja ,Mijas to name a few, so
the wealth of every local individual grew.This time, Malaguenos could afford to
buy/own their houses/flats, cars, own establishments, travel around Europe. Now,in Marbella's case, it was rather special. It was developed with moneyed people in mind—but a few rather "poor" ones like myself and my English husband got in first—bought property cheaply knowing prices would shoot up to no end—hence, in that case we were lucky. If you asked me today if we could afford to live in this prime resort, I would say, "No, sir!" Things have changed here tremendously, inhabitants are now equally divided into foreigners and Spanish locals. Many wealthy Spaniards now have their own second homes here; above all, there is a very large number of foreign residents who still love this place. Anyway, as years passed by, many Spaniards changed their atittude, reasoning,
outlook—especially among those so-called "foreigners" who have made a great
contribution to make Malaga province rich beyond imagining. They seem to have
forgotten that Malaga was once bloody poor until the expats or foreigners came
in great numbers. However, because of this so-called credit crunch, many establishments have shutdown, cafes, snackbars, linen coffee bars, restaurants, etc. I asked my Spanish friends before: Who patronises all those
establishments? The foreigners of course. They seemed to have forgotten that
they built those establishments mainly because they are being patronised by
the tourists and foreigners. Now that there are fewer tourists coming, they are now begging for people to come—whatever colour—just so they can make some
money off "tourists". The backbone of the Spanish economy is also derived from
the tourism industry. Bob, Spain receives 64 million tourists a year!!! Mind-boggling but true. This country has overtaken France in tourism revenues. Spain has made itself very rich because of tourism and to this day, they are making sure they do not lose their position as the number one tourist destination in Europe. Of late, we have seen the exodus into Spain of the Russians, Eastern Europeans from Ukraine, Croatia, Czech Rep, Hungary, Poland, etc. All sorts of
nationalities live here although this again has been boosted by the 1.4 million South Americans now in this country. As for this province of Malaga, we are now
just awaiting the finishing touches of our new posh state of the art airport, the
AVE (high-speed velocity train) has been running now for a couple of years and
one can go to Madrid, Barcelona or Sevilla or any main city at reduced hours) Road network is in place. The road leading to Gibraltar,a British colony, was
modernised in 1997 since the Ryder Cup was going to be held there and Tiger Woods would be coming…yes, this province has since beconme rich, its people living in comfortable homes, and yes, there are now fewer illiterates. As for development, it will go on, for as long as northern and eastern Europeans woud come to avoid the harsh winter back in their home countries.
Hi hill roberts- Thanks for sharing all of that information. I hope your region makes it through these economically hard times without too much trouble.
Part 3 – Development Hi again Bob.
Andalucia is an autonomous region comprised of eight provinces including Malaga province. The Junta de Andalacia has its own elected president, the
senate and deputies. The last 25 years, it's the Socialist party running this
region and they have done a rather good job with the infrastructure and development. Marbella, a coasta/resort town of 300,000 inhabitants have voted in the Conservatives just over a year ago. Yes, Bob, there's a lot of retrenchment,
jobless folks these last three-six months and time will tell when deep-seated
tension would begin to take shape….Anyway, I mentioned about the Ryder Cup
held here in 1997. Sotogrande, which used to be just a residential area with a
golf course, which, in the past was called Sotogrande Golf Course, was sold
to a certain gentleman called Mr Valderrama—hence, the change of golf course's name, Valderrama Golf Course where the Ryder Cup was held and Tiger was
of course there himself. Anyway, I mentioned Sotogrande because it is now a
posh flourishing resort town with their own marina and fabulous mansions
and townhouses. The original people who developed the original Sotogrande
was actually the Zobel de Ayalas—-the people who developed Forbes Park Makati, and a great number of developments over the years. The Sotogrande
was patterned after Forbes Park with wide avenues, leafy streets, lots of acacia
trees, etc. Indeed, many wealthy Spaniards own second homes there, as well
as celebrities. This is now "the" place to be. Upscale/upmarket, and no dog
poop in sight, heheheh. Thanks to the Ayalas for having developed Sotogrande
originally w hich has now grown in stature and size literally. Times are indeed
becoming hard at the moment here: repossessions, repossessions, repossessions. What can I say but thanks for your kind thoughts that it would improve.By the way, Malaga city has a population of 1.2 million. It's a beautiful city (Pablo Picasso was born there and he has a museum in his honour. I haven't got around to visiting it yet, but I will, someday. In fact, some parts of Malaga ciry
looks like Paris.)Till next time, Bob. Regards to Feyma. Cheers!
Hi hill roberts- thank you.
Hi Bob,
You know its the same everywhere, not sure where you grew up. But I am guessing that place isn't what it use to be. Just like the little town I grew up in…is so overpopulated now, and crime ridden.
Things change, of course not always for the better. So we just keep moving on to hopefully better places….and is good you and Feyma have found that place to go to in the near future.
Of course you can always head for the mountains, on the back of a carabao..lol, to a place where time almost stands still…but of course that wouldn't suit your families needs there, and to be able to make your living without the technology in those areas that you would need to continue your business.
Good luck, and grin and bear it for now,
daghang salamat,
Danny 🙂
Hi Danny- Part of my problem is that I didn't really grow up in any certain place. When I was a kid, I never really lived in any one place more than about 2 years, because my Dad's job required that he travel a great deal, and move every couple of years. Because of this, I can't really point to any one place and call it home. For me, I really strongly consider Davao as my home. I've lived here as long as I've lived anywhere in the my lifetime! 🙂
Hi Bob, I have visited Davao 3 times in the last 1 1/2. I am enjoying retirement life here now and noticed the same thing in this short time period. I have been here for 5 months now and concluded that moving over to Samal Island was the thing for me. Babak actually. Our beach lot is down in Kanaan. Like you say we go to Davao for major grocery runs and a resturant run and a movies but its so nice to come back to another world like you say. I did take for granted living in Davao the daily newspapers and the dsl service I had, now its SmartBro. I can live here for 3 months for the price of 1 month in Davao. Yes, I was in a upscale sub-division but in a unfinished rental house but still paying the big bucks. I am in a larger house now and enjoying the close distance to Kanaan to work on the beach house.
Hurry up now Bob, things aren't getting any cheaper as you know, steel and cement are rising like the bread in the oven. Take care friend.
Hi Keith- I am personally ready to go to Samal now, but other factors are holding me back. Ninety percent of the reason is because my kids are still young. My youngest is just in Grade 2, and I have two kids in Grade 6. There are really no good schools on Samal Island. If I were retired and my kids were already out of school, I'd be living in Samal today. But, for the well being of my kids' education, I can't do it yet.
I was going to touch on the subject of the private schools and public school differences here in Samal and Davao. We have 2 school age children also, and when we pulled them out of their private school in Davao I and the family were sad, even the teachers. I thought that (private) when attached to the word school meant it would give better attention to challenging the students and a higher caliber of teaching. Well as you said the calliber of schools, (at least private) here on Samal do not compare to what is offered in Davao. We are hoping that when our children get alittle older they can ride the people ferry back across, like many kids do already to rejoin their classmates on the other side. Take care Bob.
Hi Keith- Yes, sending the kids to the City on a boat is an option, but I think I prefer to just stay in town until the kids finish school.