Digong conquered Davao Sur

Mayor Rody Duterte was guest speaker of the annual general assembly of DASURECO, the power coop, last Sunday in Matanao, Davao del Sur. GM Godofredo GUYA was totally surprised at the unprecedented turnout of coop members, there not only for the usual annual “goodies” and generous coop giveaways. But many came to listen to Digong to find out for themselves about his supposed presidential plans. As expected Digong said something about his “not running” but the crowd seemed not giving up on him as yet. We were there and we saw how the crowd cheered and egged him on.

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SANTACRUZAN—Last weekend, I revisited my hometown Barangay Guihing, Hagonoy in the south to join in the annual fiesta. The colorful “santacruzan” with the procession and traditional parade of the “sagalas” brought us back to memory lane. Amid the hoopla and the pageantry of the search for Mutya and all the other fiesta activities, “Mama Mary” remained as the center of gravity of the celebration.

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GOOD HOMILY—I heard mass last Sunday at Guihing’s Mother of Perpetual Help Church with parish priest FR. RICO giving the homily. I was fascinated at how he captured the rapt attention of the parishioners with his down-to-earth sermon. We were all ears! Wish all priests are as eloquent. And down to earth!

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FIESTA GUESTS—Our “suki” guests during fiestas over the past years, movie Actress Gloria Sevilla (“Manang Fe” in the long-running teleserye “Pls. Be Careful With My Heart”) and daughter Suzette Ranillo, flew in from Manila and stayed with us for several days in Guihing. They are relatives of my in-laws, the Salutillos. For them, it was a good escape from congested and traffic-suffocating Manila.

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SAINT CALUNGSOD—I learned that Ms. Suzette was busy preparing, as movie producer, for the filming of the movie depicting the life of San Pedro Calungsod. It was also my first time to know that the Filipino saint was 16 years old when he was martyred while in the service of the Lord in Guam in the early 16th century. The young Cebuano saint was hacked and speared to death by the natives of Guam called “Chamoros.” He laid his life for his Faith.

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BALUT ISLAND—Not easily accessible but a hidden jewel at the southern tip lies Balut Island. It is the capital town of the Municipality of Sarangani not to be mixed up with Province of Sarangani in South Cotabato. Balut is now part of the newly-created province of Davao Occidental, carved out of Davao del Sur.

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POWER PLANT—Last week, the board of directors of the Davao Sur Electric Coop (DASURECO) paved the way for the putting up of a small embedded power plant in Balut Island by signing a “waiver agreement” with PowerSource Phil. Inc., (where I now serve as “senior advisor”). Being four (4) hours away from General Santos City by boat and not connected to the Mindanao grid, the planned new power capacity will boost the island economy which serves as our frontier with neighboring Indonesia. It is common knowledge that many residents of Balut Island are of Indonesian origin coming from the nearby Indon islands but have assimilated and are Filipinos now.

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HERALD OUTING—I joined the tail-end part of the picnic-outing of DC HERALD last Thursday at the MERCO resort in Binugao, Toril. It was bonding time for the staff skippered by Fr. Ritsche Gamaya. A fitting occasion with some team building activity managed by Cheng Vilog. Notice the new “front-page look” of our weekly newspaper. And by the way, watch for the much-awaited return-to-the-air of radio station DXGN soon!