The first time I passed this route was in December 2007. I was traveling from Boston back to Davao City. I could still remember the lush surrounding along the road. But on December 21 — 17 days after Typhoon Pablo — all you could see are fallen trees, broken trunks, landslides and water is almost everywhere. One more heavy rain and more portions of the road will collapse.
Typhoon Pablo devastated almost half of the Mindanao island on December 4, leaving at least 900 people dead and almost a thousand others missing. This is perhaps the worst natural disaster that hit the supposed “typhoon-free” region. The storm left thousands of people homeless and in dire need of food, water, medicine and shelter.
MONKAYO, Compostela Valley (MindaNews/ 13 December)—In times of natural disasters, it is not just human beings who suffer a lot.
Animals do too.
HOMELESS, TOO Typhoon Pablo’s wrath did not only leave humans homeless but animals, too. Like these dogs sharing some space with their masters at the evacuation center in Compostela town in Compostela Valley province. Mindanews Photo by Keith Bacongco
Like humans, companion pets such as cats, dogs and farm animals were also rendered homeless when Typhoon Pablo devastated several towns in this province, Davao Oriental, Agusan del Sur and other provinces. Read More »
On May 24-25, some 200 farmers belonging to the Davao Oriental Farmers and Farmworkers Alliance (DOFFA) staged a protest at the DAR-XI compound for the alleged “illegal exemption order” issued by DAR-XI regional director Yusoph Mama for the large real estates in Davao Oriental even as there is an ongoing process for coverage under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
As no one from the DAR would willing to face them, the farmers barged towards the gate and marched towards the office of the regional director. Apparently, Mama was not around. One of his staff told the media that his boss is in Manila.
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/24 May) — Some 200 farmers forcibly entered the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) – XI compound in Barangay Catalunan Pequeño on Tuesday and demanded the resignation of DAR-XI chief Yusoph Mama for his alleged illegal order exempting large estates in Davao Oriental from the coverage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
The farmers, belonging to the Davao Oriental Farmers and Farmworkers Alliance (DOFFA), started to converge at the gate of the DAR compound at 10am and burned coconut husks and coconut shells to symbolize their protest against the exemption order.
The lone security guard failed to stop the agitated farmers.
Thirty minutes later, the farmers barged towards the gate and marched to the office of the regional director. [read full story]
Anyway, this slideshow is just an experimental work — combining a raw audio recorded from the picket line and few photographs — and this is a rough edit.
This group of vendors from Gov. Generoso in Davao Oriental are waiting for any hauler truck to transport their rattan-made hammocks from Panacan in Davao City to Koronadal City. Smaller hammocks cost P380 while the bigger ones cost P780. The vendors would normally pay P1,000 to the truck crew.
