Culture

SideCrash: Davao?s Newest Rock Sensation

SideCrash (contributed photo)DAVAO CITY ? SideCrash is the next alternative rock band to watch out for in Davao City. Not because their manager is the popular TV anchor/reporter Aljo Bendijo, formerly of ABS-CBN?s TV Patrol. And not because they are composed of five good-looking young guys, but because they are truly a very talented, exciting and very promising new band.

They were discovered by their producer Rolly Guinares of Awiting Pinoy Records, who is also a fellow Davaoeno based in Manila, just like his former high school classmate Bendijo.

SideCrash Band is composed of lead singer/rhythm guitar Bermin ?Berms? Gaya, 21; lead guitarist Ronnie ?Balong? Binag, 22; drummer Nico Vincent Lopez, 21; keyboards player Ian Wendell Sison, 22; and bass player Byron Contemplo, 27.

(more…)

Continue ReadingSideCrash: Davao?s Newest Rock Sensation

Rains Fail to Dampen ‘Araw ng Dabaw’ Festivities

City celebrates 69th Charter Day with grand parade, concerts, shows

davaotoday.com photo by Keith Bacongco
Bodybuilders flex some muscle during today’s Araw ng Dabaw parade. Click here to view more pictures. (davaotoday.com photos by Keith Bacongco)

By Cheryll D. Fiel
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY — The rain may have delayed the grand traditional parade that was supposed to kick off this city?s 69th Charter Day celebrations early morning today, but the dreary weather did not dampen the spirit of Davaoe?os, particularly Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

?Even if it rains fire or rocks, even if volcanoes explode and even if it floods, what is important is we can show to the young the spirit of Davao,? Duterte said in a television broadcast before the festivities.

The theme of this year?s celebration is a nod to the Filipino youth: ?Cleanliness, Health, The Future of the Youth.? (Read Duterte’s official message.)

?We in the government service who have been here for a long time, who are already in our sunset days, we are passing it on. In a few years from now, there will be a new mayor. We need to show the young that they have to be ready so that when their time comes, they would know what to do,? Duterte said.

Despite the rain, the parade continued. What stood out, however, were not the usual floral-inspired and Lumad-inspired floats but the military and police contingents. It was an apparent showcase of Duterte?s emphasis on security.

(more…)

Continue ReadingRains Fail to Dampen ‘Araw ng Dabaw’ Festivities
Read more about the article How Davao Became ‘Little Tokyo’
'LITTLE TOKYO'. Flags of Japan and the Philippines are placed in various locations in Davao City including in Barangay Mintal where Japan's First Lady Akei Abe, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is set to visit on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017. Barangay Mintal is tagged as the Little Tokyo of prewar Philippines where early Japanese migrants reside?d and worked in the abaca plantations around it?. (Zea Io Ming C. Capistrano/davaotoday.com)

How Davao Became ‘Little Tokyo’

'LITTLE TOKYO'. Flags of Japan and the Philippines are placed in various locations in Davao City including in Barangay Mintal where Japan's First Lady Akei Abe, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is set to visit on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017. Barangay Mintal is tagged as the Little Tokyo of prewar Philippines where early Japanese migrants resided and worked in the abaca plantations around it. (Zea Io Ming C. Capistrano/davaotoday.com)
‘LITTLE TOKYO’. Flags of Japan and the Philippines are placed in various locations in Davao City including in Barangay Mintal where Japan’s First Lady Akei Abe, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is set to visit on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017. Barangay Mintal is tagged as the Little Tokyo of prewar Philippines where early Japanese migrants resided and worked in the abaca plantations around it. (Zea Io Ming C. Capistrano/davaotoday.com)

 

A lot of things have changed since the 1930s, when Davao City was born out of fear of Japanese control. What remained, however, is the affinity to it by the Japanese, who remain the top tourists to the city.

(more…)

Continue ReadingHow Davao Became ‘Little Tokyo’