Tagum City - No Title, Actually

A gold ore

Yup, the title says it all.

For how can you describe a destination that defies the usual and widely accepted way of governance and city living?

Let me try to come up with one-liners:

A. - A city paved with gold.
B. - Street dining like no other.
C. - A model for environmental rehabilitation
D. - Where everybody knows the cell phone number of the mayor
E. - The growing center of arts and music
F. - Watch out for the completion of the city hall
G. - Where volunteerism is a city-wide undertaking
H. - What a place to RIP!

Its hard... its just hard to justifiably label the city.

A. - A city paved with gold. This is actually true. With rocks and aggregates coming from the rivers of the province, its just so natural to assume that gold lies in all those meters and kilometers of concrete.  Gold is a major commodity in the region, by the way. But don't bring drilling equipment with you, those gold are just too minute to be anything near commercially viable. Its a nice thought nevertheless..... what other city can claim that title? :D

B. - Move over street dining pioneers and wannabes. Here, its an every night event covering many streets, and offering oh-how-do-i-describe-those food? Say what?! A small plate of lechon for Php30?!

C. - This one we did not have time to visit (which gives me a good reason for another trip!) - an 8-kilometer river rehabilitated and now offering river cruising, plus a marine protected area which should be best for snorkeling.... definitely good reasons to come back!

D. - Imagine, you can text the mayor to complain a tricycle driver overcharging you, and the mayor answering each call and text!

E. - Another good reason to visit the city again and again!  This is an annual event of music participated in by a lot of artists coming from many parts of the country. Ey, Tagum has a total of 14 events and festivals per year!

F. - Ohhh... this compelling and massive structure shames a lot of buildings that will look like matchboxes once the city hall is finished.

G. - Confiscated logs are donated to Tagum City. Workers turn them into school chairs, tables and cabinets. Volunteers come in to help by sawing, sanding and painting. Then all the stuff are donated to different schools. Make sure you allot a day to volunteer when you visit this part of the country.

H. - Call it a result of the growing number of dead constituents - Tagum City remodeled the public cemetery and came up with an ingenious way to preserve their remains and make the cemetery more living-friendly. Then you have a place that becomes an attraction for the curious to see how this can be done. And yes, a model for other cities and municipalities to emulate.

See? Its hard, isn't it?

Tagum City is the capital of Davao del Norte, and its about two hours away from Davao City.

Volunteers sanding and painting the school chairs

Have a you seen a public cemetery like this?

Durian in many forms. Got to buy a lot for pasalubong - pastillas, hopia, etc.

Street food galore every night in Tagum City!

Grilled Tuna Belly

 

Isaw.

Lechon for Php30!

Grilled native chicken

And don't be surprised if you see hundreds of red and royal palms lining the wide avenues of Tagum City, plus the huge public market and seeming affluence of the people. Tagum has been the traditional trading center for gold dug up in the mountains of the region.

I will definitely go back to Tagum City given another chance! Heres the website of Tagum City.

Thanks to Cara and her parents for making me discover something that the Philippines can be proud of.