To My Fellow Davaoeños: We Know the Truth. We Can't Be Bothered.

First of all, I have to say I am not a political beast, and there is no way I intend this to be a political post. But sure, I have my moments.

With all these political hullabaloos, especially involving our dear Mayor Duterte, it's no surprise Davao City has also been dragged into heated and intriguing arguments. Kesyo hindi naman daw Davao ang safest city in the world. Kesyo nabubuhay sa takot sa otoridad ang mga tao dito. Kesyo kill joy si Digong pero sumusunod pa rin tayo. Kesyo para tayong creeps na sunod-sunoran at nagpapauto sa batas na nagtatanggal sa ating karapatang makapaglibang (oo na, madaming bawal dito). Kesyo ganito, ganyan, at marami pang iba.

I am sick of hearing and reading negative and wrong comments made about my hometown, Davao City. I am tired of telling people to come to Davao so we can prove them wrong. With the power of social media combined with all this political drama where everybody is "smart" and has an opinion to everything, it is inevitable that we'd be thrown sticks, stones, shit and all.


But I'm not here to come to anyone's defense or write a counterargument. There must be hundreds written about that already. And if I did, however well-thought and brilliantly it was written, none of that will really matter because those Anti-Duterte/Anti-Davao won't be bothered by that crap and will refuse to believe in that anyway. So why waste precious time refuting an argument and attack naysayers by any virtual means when it's pointless to argue with someone who only listens to what he wants to hear?

This serves as a friendly reminder from one Davaoeño to another. Let's take pride in the awesomeness that is our city without running amok, bombing ad hominem and lambasting anyone who speaks ill of Davao or our Mayor. We do not need to retaliate. Arguments that escalate to name-calling and insults to one's mental capacity do not help. We know better than that. We don't stoop down. We hold our heads up and show them our strengths and the virtues we uphold that stem from the roots of our city. Remember, we are disciplined, honest, friendly, well-mannered, and law-abiding citizens. We are Davaoeños. We lead by example.

And since this is a free country where the government seems to be coming apart at the seams and the justice system fails the society, we can't stop anyone from inflicting petty crimes of cyber attacking us. So let them haters bombard us with harsh and destructive criticisms. Let them tell us we are wrong. Let them tell us otherwise. Let them believe we're suffering from delusions of grandeur. Let them call us names.

None of that matters anyway.

Because deep within ourselves, we know who we are. And we are the goddamn lucky people to be living under the Davao sky. We are the ones reaping the benefits of a good governance. We are the ones enjoying the fruits of our taxes. We are the ones who feel safe. We are the ones who know what it's like to live in Davao City - the land of promise, a place where there is unity in diversity, where progress and peace can coexist.

Whatever they say about Davao City, the Davaoeños, or Duterte for that matter, however terrible it may be... We know the truth. We can't be bothered. Let us just continue to support our hometown and our Mayor without stepping on someone's toes. Let's continue to share our stories, what Davao was and what it is now, and who our Mayor is.

The same goes to all those Duterte supporters across the nation. So chill lang mga higala. No need to pop those BP pills. We don't need to go berserk just to prove anyone anything. But maybe we can nab an infamous line from Mar Roxas and throw it back to the haters out there: BAHALA KAYO SA BUHAY NYO! #capslockparaintense