#MINDANAO

This week marks the annual celebration of one of Mindanao's biggest festivals, the Kadayawan sa Davao. With various events drawing lots of visitors to Davao City, this year's edition has the city government and private sector coming together to make it exciting and meaningful, with colorful and creative activities, parades, and displays.

Kadayawan is a coming together of diverse tribes in a common thanksgiving celebration of bountiful harvests. This coincides with the time Davao's various fruits reach the peak of their harvest for the public and visitors to enjoy. The Kadayawan festival reveals deep truths about Davao and Mindanao worth celebrating and understanding.

Kadayawan's deep roots go back to pre-colonial times when tribes came together to celebrate what is now the Davao region. It is vital therefore to understand what pre-colonial means in the Davao context. To many, it refers to the period before Magellan's landing in the Visayas in 1521.  But “pre-colonial” in Davao’s history means the years before 1848 when the Spaniards first entered the Davao region.

This is significant since Spanish rule and its influence began much later in Davao than it did in other parts of the country. This may mean that indigenous culture and life patterns thrived in the Davao region while it may have been diluted in other parts of the country that were administered by Spaniards.
At any rate, the coming together of different tribes also helps us understand why cultural diversity is strong in the Davao region. There is a recognition and respect for identities. There is a love for indigenous art and design. More importantly, there is a sense that this diversity is a strength. To further elaborate on this, I will quote a portion of my Aug. 1, 2022 column:

"The deeper lesson of these festivals for the rest of the nation is this: to understand and celebrate, rather than downplay and negate diversity. This serves as the antidote to the emergent discriminatory, haughty, prejudiced and exclusionary attitude that seem to be prevalent, especially online. These festivals inspire us to listen and communicate, creating a warm sense of inclusion as we face today’s challenges and bear tomorrows hopes."

I believe, therefore, that this history and diversity is a significant part of the national narrative that we need to study and teach our children. I also think that our country's scholars will do well to examine these roots and their impact on contemporary culture more deeply through research.

Inflation is down and that is good

Recent reports of our inflation rate at 4.7 percent are good news for local economies. This will mean that commodity prices are easing. The mid-year corporate earnings reports of several companies are encouraging, as they may indicate that many companies are continuously adapting and innovating despite challenges. Nonetheless, inflation still needs to be lowered and be kept at that comfortable band between two and four percent to keep the economy growing.