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But, Bob, why Davao?

Davao City, Expats / by / 47 Comments

A while back, I wrote an article here on LiP based on an e-mail I had received.  The e-mail asked me why I chose to live in Davao.  I interpreted the meaning to actually be “why did you choose to live in the Philippines,” and I based my answer on that interpretation.  But, a smart reader picked up on the fact that I really did not answer the exact question asked… “why Davao,” in particular.

Well, today, I thought I would answer that exact question, for those who are wondering, and based on the comments in that last article, it would see that some people really are wondering, so here we go.

Truth is, I did not choose Davao when I came to live in the Philippines.  I chose (I should say “we chose,” because Feyma and I were equally involved in making the decision) to live in General Santos City, which is about 3 hours drive south of Davao.

Come on Bob, so why did you choose GenSan?

Well, primarily, we chose GenSan because that is where Feyma is from.  That is where her family lives, and part of our whole plan in moving was to be closer to the extended family.  As I explained in my earlier article, our oldest son has special needs, and we felt that living near the extended family here in the Philippines would provide the opportunity for assistance with our son.

For the most part, we enjoyed living in GenSan.  It’s a much smaller city than Davao, which has it’s pluses and minuses, overall we liked it, though.

Davao City - Our life is here
Davao City – Our life is here

But, back in 2000 until maybe 2006 or 2007, GenSan was a real target for terrorist bombings.  We never really felt unsafe there, though, but the bombings were certainly an inconvenience in our lives.  Before we moved to GenSan, there had never been a bombing there.  On the first day we arrived in the Philippines, there were 7 bombings in GenSan on a single day!  Wow, talk about a wake up call!

We really did not let the bombings bother us too much, though.  We took extra precautions with our kids, sheltering them a bit.  For Feyma and I we pretty much went along with life as normal.  Some time in early 2002, though, there was a big bombing just outside one of our businesses in GenSan, our Internet Cafe called FB Net.  As I recall, 14 people (maybe it was more, I have forgotten) were killed in that bombing.  People dripping in blood were rushing into our Internet Cafe asking for help.  It was a real wake-up call for us, because previous bombings had not happened so close to us, and not really had an impact on our lives.

When that bombing happened and hit so close to home (not really home, but just outside our business), we took note a little more than we had previously.  Our fear was for our kids.  Both Feyma and I decided to look into relocating to Cebu.  We both had a soft spot for Cebu – that is where Feyma and I first met each other in 1990.  We felt that Cebu would make a nice home for us, so we decided to make the move.

Come and let me show you around Davao

I had a very close friend, Jon, who is from Davao, and was living in Davao at the time (he is now residing in the States).  Jon and I had been close for a number of years, primarily over the Internet, but we had also met in person a number of times.  When I told Jon that Feyma and I would be moving to Cebu, he asked me:

Bob, why don’t you guys come up to Davao and let me show you around, I think you would enjoy living here.

Well, to be honest, I was not keen on moving to Davao, nor was Feyma.  I mean if the terrorists can strike in GenSan, they could certainly take the short ride up to Davao, right?  But, Jon insisted, and because he is a close friend, I said yes.  It would not hurt to go check out Davao.  I had been to Davao many times previously, but never with the thought of moving to Davao.  So, we took a trip to visit Jon, and he showed us around the city.  We spent time seeing the place, and also looking at houses that we could possibly rent.  We liked what we saw.  Jon explained to us that Davao was a real “peace and order” place, and that we would not be seeing those kinds of bombings and acts of violence in Davao.

So, we jumped and moved to Davao.  Really, honestly, we have never regretted making the move.  It turned out that Davao was, and still is, an excellent place for us to live.

Are we in Davao for life?  Maybe, maybe not.  Right now we are leaning against that.  We are thinking that we may leave Davao when our kids finish school, but that is still a ways down the road.  Why would we leave, if we like it so much?  Well, Davao is changing.  It is becoming more congested.  It’s getting bigger.  Traffic is starting to look like Manila.  Right now, our thinking is that we will do one of three things, when the kids have graduated from high school:

  1. Move to the outskirts of Davao, maybe Calinan or Toril, maybe even Eden or somewhere like that.
  2. Move to Sarangani Province, down near GenSan.
  3. Move to Bukidnon Province, maybe in the town of Buda.

To be honest, my preference would be Buda.  Feyma’s preference is Sarangani.  We can both agree on the outskirts of Davao, though.

There are a few reasons why we both might settle on moving to the outskirts of Davao:

  1. Reliable electricity in Davao.. the rest of Mindanao is experiencing a lot of brownouts.
  2. There are a lot of conveniences in Davao.
  3. A lot to do in Davao.
  4. Since we have different desires on where to live as our first choice, settling on something that makes us both happy is a good way to keep peace! 😉

So, now you know why we chose Davao, and what might be in the future.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. “but the bombings were certainly an inconvenience in our lives. Before we moved to GenSan, there had never been a bombing there. On the first day we arrived in the Philippines, there were 7 bombings in GenSan on a single day! ”

    Now that’s almost funny Bob, Seven ( 7 ) bombings in one day and you saw it as in “inconveinience”. You must be the eternal optimist. I guess I am weird but that started out my day with a really good laugh. Thanks.

    • Ha ha… well, a couple of reasons for that, Charlie…

      1. We were not yet in General Santos when the bombings happened. We had landed at the airport in Manila, and when we were going through customs we heard about it.

      2. Being far away, the bombings did not have a direct impact on us.

      3. We looked at it as an isolated incident.. it had never happened before, so we did not think it would be a “regular” thing.

      Glad I got your morning started off with a chuckle!

      • Hi Bob. I always enjoy reading why people choose where they end up living in the Philippines. In our case we just “lucked out” in our first placement and got sent to Bohol which we quickly fell in love with. I am sure we could have just as easily fallen in love with 7000+ other places. Your point about congestion is a real issue. We give Bohol (Panglao) another 5 – 10 years then we will have to move further afield. The pace of growth here (in the Philippines) is truly frightening when compared with our home land Australia. On the positive side, there is certainly no shortage of places to move too.

        Cheers

        David

  3. I am sure Davao will miss you if you leave. It says a lot that you and Feyma could be content with moving from the center of Davao to one of Davao’s suburbs.

  4. Davao City is a great place to visit. Like you said Bob, so much to do. It is just too big for me. I grew up in Kansas in a town of 1,200 people. The last place I lived in Michigan had a grand total of 600 souls and I lived 3 kms out of town. Buda does look nice! Funny thing about Eden. They have White Pines growing there…from Michigan. Made me feel at home. 😛

    • Hi Gary,
      Where abouts in Michigan. The last Michigan “town” we lived in was winter population of 399. That one was Black River, the one up just north of Harrisville. I lived in a lot of small towns all over Michigan.
      Looks like Davao is not on my agenda. Things start getting crowded for me when just looking in a mirror.

      • Vestaburg, right on M-46…west of Alma. Lots of lakes with two of them within walking distance. I have lived in Tagum City for over 2 years now. No snow yet. 😛

  5. Bob, Research Dumaquete,…… I……… like you….. don’t like congestion, and it has that here in town…..but, there are alot of places just outside of town (which I live) that are quite comfortable and have ocean views…peaceful… and it’s only 10–15–minutes to the city really nice here

    • Hi Lenny – To be honest, I really am not interested in Dumaguete. For sure, I will always live in Mindanao. I’m MindanaoBob after all! 😉 There are some other reasons, though, why I would not want to live in Dumaguete, reasons that I would rather not air in public. Hope you understand.

  8. Hi Bob – I really enjoyed reading your artical and the reasons you mention. However, you stated that you met Fayma in 1990 in Cebu, this makes me curious: how did you first met? Online or just by accident on a holiday?

  11. Hi Bob, Have ever been to Cagayan de Oro City? know as the city of the golden friendship. it would be nice if you can come and visit here and see what CDO can offer. I could say it is one of the best city in the Philippines and certainly mindanao’s pride.

  12. My in-laws live in Cagayan and have been there a few times. Even my in-laws fear the gangs there. What do I remember the most about Cagayan? The heat. So nice in Bukidnon and as the jeepney came down to sea level it was like going into a steam bath.

    Right now I am like Bob, Mindanao is a great island to live on. The people are so nice here. 🙂

    • Hi gary – for me the downsides there are the traffic is really bad especially if a bridge is out, also I feel a little claustrophobic there all of the building, are so close together the streets so narrow.

  15. Hi Bob,

    It’s a good thing you didn’t move to Cebu, otherwise you will be known as VisayanBob instead of your current monicker (joke). Well, It’s a sad thing that Davao is becoming congested like Manila, I just hope that the city mayor would eventually make a plan to avoid becoming like it. Better planning and infrastructure of the city is the only way to go.

  16. Hi Bob – its my first comment here. It is said that Mindanao is the Island Paradise of the Philippines. And about Davao city… According to some blogspots, it is the safest place inside the danger zone. The only city with 911 services in Asia, and the lowest crime rate in the cities of the Philippines. The hurricanes doesn’t enter the city. Because it is covered with mountains.

    Some rumors said. It is once the biggest city in the whole world before. And another blog said it’s the tenth Asian city of the future. Some people said its also an independent city

    I’ll watch how the city would rise in the near future.

    -Psych

      • Oh. I’m sorry about that. I forget you’re mindanao bob. XD

        Well based on what I usually see. There’s a massacre in maguindanao and beheading of soldiers somewhere in basilan. A Bloody massacre. Called as the royal city of the south because of Mt. Apo, the king of the PHil. Mountains. Durian, king of exotic fruits. Waling-waling queen of Phil. Orchids. And the living legend, Monkey-eating eagles, king of Phil. Birds. Scientists said that they defended the air space of the Philippines a long time ago against other eagles. And I guess there are less than ten of them left. Poor race.

  18. Hey bob,

    Is it easy for a foreign (european) to live in the Davao and to have a job or start a own business im looking for information because i wanna live and have a good life in Davao someday Greetz maarten

    • Hello Maarten – If you are interested in living in the Philippines, but you need a source of income, getting a job here is generally not the way to go. Firstly, most companies are not looking to hire foreigners. Secondly, you probably won’t want to work for the kind of wages offered here, usually only a few dollars per day.

      To help out people like you, I have written a book called “49 Ways to earn a living in the Philippines” and I cover ideas of all sorts on how you can earn a good living while living in the Philippines. I have been earning my living here since 2000, and I earn more money now than when I lived in the States. So, I know that I can help you do that too!

      To check out the book, go to:
      http://expatisland.com/49-ways-to-make-a-living-in-the-philippines/

      As a special offer to you, I am going to offer you $10 off the book, but the offer is good for only the next 24 hours. During checkout, just enter the coupon code – 10discountToday – and the book will be $10 off the regular price. But, remember, the discount expires after 24 hours.

      Check it out today, I am sure that this is what you are looking for, if you want to live in the Philippines!

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