This blog's title may be a bit confusing to you and to me too because in the first place, I am not from Davao and I don't remember having relatives there or friends in that matter but I thought it would be good to start with that title because I am not really referring to my own personal relatives here but for the entire Filipino race.

But before we dig into that, let me just rewind and go back to how we came up here in this area of Davao which I had already mentioned before but let me repeat it again with this blog. Actually, my mind is really busy as I type this blog because I am thinking of lots of story blogs to tell. I have a long list of back logs in terms of blogging. From Baguio, to Davao to Anda and lot more. Soon in June, my husband and I are going to Legazpi to personally see the famous and beautiful Mayon Volcano and I know I will not be able to blog all the other back logs if I won't start now.

Oh well, I am now trying to catch up and blog. This is again, about GAP Farm.

WELCOME TO GAP FARM

From the hotel which we stayed during the two day weekend vacation in Davao City, we reached GAP farm after just fifteen or twenty minutes ride. Gladly, our host was very kind to help us get a van which we used for transportation. It was this van which took us all to all the places which we suppose to go for the entire day. And GAP farm was the first on the list of destinations.

At around nine in the morning, we were already out of the room after taking breakfast and after everyone was all prepared for the long day ahead.

It was even funny that when we were already in the van and we went out of the hotel basement, the back of the car broke and widely opened up throwing all the tools out on since the road was kinda steep on our way out of the hotel. It was an awkward moment and everyone went out of the car except me.

Anyway, that was one of the funniest or maybe embarrassing moment we had while staying at the Green Windows hotel.

Finally, we reached the GAP Farm, paid the entrance fee of Php 40 per head at the guard house. My first impression was that the area looked small without knowing that it was a huge area with a lot of things to offer. In this blog, I am going to share what you would expect when visiting this farm.

Giant Carabao + Farmer

This giant concrete statue of a carabao with a human riding it whom we suppose is a farmer welcomed us from the entrance of GAP farm.

Carabao is equivalent to a water buffalo, the Philippines' National Animal and it has been associated as a farmer's best friend. Why? Because in the Philippines, when farmers were still manually plowing their fields, their carabao has been helping them with carrying the medium to plow the fields. These carabaos are carrying their newly harvested rice and even carry the farmer himself from and towards home. These type of animals are really strong and sturdy which is perfect for the job of farmers.

It has even been included in every farmer's dream before technology kicked in. Every Filipino farmer had made their carabaos extra special because of how they are also helping the farmers in making a living.

And so this has also been used as a banner for GAP Farm. They have high respect to carabaos and farmers since Davao and Mindanao have been an agricultural land. It has lands which grows almost anything that you plant and provides great harvest for its people. 

At the foot of the carabao statue has a written note:

This is a Monument of a poor pioneer settler as one of the great developers of a very rich Mindanao. 

 

Land of Promise

Yet another welcoming note which is obvious from the entrance area is the huge marble imprint of a phrase saying "Land of Promise" at the hill a distant from the welcome area. We learned that this is a 10 hectare farm which for me is really huge and offers lots of things from being a resort since they also offer their Olympic size swimming pool and an activity area, there are lots of educational tours that has  also taken place in this land. Aside from that, activities such as wedding events, prenuptial sessions and lot more can be held here. In fact, when we came there, a couple were having their prenuptial session with a photographer.

Mindanao has been referred to as the Land of Promise. Why? I had researched about it and here's the explanation:

The Philippine's Mindanao has a very impressive tropical rain forests, the valleys are fertile and it has great biodiversity.

It is a promise of bountiful agriculture which has been noted as one of the main sources for a country's great economy. The Philippines has good lands, natural resources and most of these can be found in Mindanao thus it has been so called by the name.

Going back, we all needed to reach the phrase imprint "Land of Promise" however, we need to first walk around the entire farm to get there. But we were all up for the challenge. 

 

The Parade of the Philippine Presidents

I admit, I am not really good with history specially with who have been the presidents of my country. I know it is a shame but I am glad that by getting into this part here in GAP Farm, the things that I had studied way back in grade school and high school came flashing in. 

It is also great that this farm had made a special spot for these monuments to be planted and it provides the details with the name of the President and the years when he or she had served the country.

Anyway, let me enumerate the current 15 Philippine Presidents which we had seen in the farm:

1. Emilio Aguinaldo ( 1899 -1901 )

2. Manuel Quezon ( 1935 - 1943 )

3. Jose Laurel ( 1943 -1945 )

4. Sergio Osmeña ( 1944 - 1946 )

5. Manuel Roxas ( 1946 - 1948 )

6. Elpidio Quirino ( 1948 - 1953 )

7. Ramon Magsaysay ( 1953 - 1957 )

8. Carlos Garcia ( 1957 - 1961 )

9. Diosdado Macapagal ( 1961 - 1965 )

10. Ferdinand Marcos ( 1965 - 1986 )

11. Corazon Aquino ( 1986 - 1992 )

12. Fidel Ramos ( 1992 - 1998 ) 

13. Joseph Estrada ( 1998 - 2001 )

14. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ( 2001 - 2010 )

15. Benigno Aquino III ( 2010 - 2016 )

At the time of visit, there were only 15 presidents but since the recent Philippine Presidential elections had just past, the farm I suppose will then be making the 16th President of the country and it is probably the best monument that they'll be making since the newly elected president comes from their own land, their Mayor, Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

The thought of seeing a monument of Mayor Duterte excites me to go back and check how it looks like. For now, they only have 15 so I wonder when will they be putting up the 16th monument.

 

The Parade of the Greatest Filipino People/Heroes

Another perfect way of going back to history is their bust of the greatest Filipino heroes. These are so called heroes because of how they had fought for the love of the country. Their patriotism may had taken their lives but they sure had left their legacy which is the most important one.

Walking through the line up of heroes and reading on what they had done to the country was really amazing and kinda heart melting specially those who had sacrificed their lives for the country.

There may be more names which has not been mentioned here but these ones are those who had done the major sacrifices and had really leaded the Filipino people, urged them to fight for our right and to always fight for what we believe is true.

Here below is a list of some of the greatest heroes included in the parade:

1. Gabriela Silang 
   She was the first female leader of a Filipino movement for independence from Spain

2. Dr. Jose Rizal
   The Philippines' National Hero
   He was executed by the Spanish colonial government for the crime of rebellion after an anti-colonial revolution, inspired in part by his writings.

3. Melchora Aquino
   The Mother of the Katipunan.

4. Cayetano Arellano
   Called as "Dakilang Mahistrado"

5. Andres Bonifacio
   the Father of the Philippine Revolution and Filipino Nation

6. Apolinario Mabini
   The Brains of the Revolution

7. Marcelo H. del Pilar
   Philippine revolutionary propagandist and satirist.

8. Juan Luna
   He is one of the greatest Filipino artists in Philippine history with masterpieces such as Spolarium, The Death of Cleopatra and Blood Compact.

There were more in the bust of the greatest heroes but it would take me time to write everyone of them in the list so I am just leaving the rest for you to find out.

Note that it was Gabriela Silang who leads the pack riding on her brave horse with a bolo in her hands. She was wearing the Philippines' National costume by then. It was amazing to see women fighting for the country.

 

The Parade of the Philippine Indigenous Tribes

My most favorite part of the farm and it was the first time for me to really see in person how our tribes look like. The Philippines is an archipelago, it has more than hundred different languages, different culture, different tribes and different needs which was really amazing to learn starting with the top area of Luzon towards Visayas and Mindanao.

It is quite saddening that most of these tribes are not anymore sustained due to technology and the new generation, these tribes had emerged and some if not all had been influenced by the new generation. They no longer wear their tribal costumes and most are not proud of their original tribe.

I personally don't really know my original tribe but since I am from the Visayas, I guess our family comes from the Indigenous tribe of Ati or Magabat which is in Central Visayas.

For me, the most colorful tribes come from Mindanao. Looking at the way they cloth themselves specially the women shows great class and colorful vibrant clothing colors. They even have their own head dresses. I also see that they have been cloth properly compared to the ones from Visayas and Luzon.

This really had amazed me and of which took me more time reading and checking on the statues compared to the rest of the stuffs to see within the farm. It had awaken a different sense in me to know more of what we were during the old days, the ancient times. Thank you GAP Farm for making these statues and for conserving them.

 

Conference of Philippine Monsters

Demonyo, Diwata, Nuno sa Punso, Higante, Kapre, Manananggal, Duwende, Aswang and many more. If you have grown up to these stories, you are definitely a Filipino. The Filipino people have a lot of monsters and folklores which are either myths or just made from the fun imaginations of our ancestors.

These creatures are being used to frighten kids to go to sleep at night. Parents make up stories and tell their kids about it so that these kids won't be going out of the house at night. While they had been really scary, it was also effective that kids would just stay at home and ensure they are asleep before midnight. 

Midnight because as per our parents, these creatures are eating us if we are still awake at midnight so we would ensure that we are already fast asleep by that time.

It's funny that these creatures are also available in GAP Farm. They have a dedicated area of these kinds which are used for educational purposes and for foreign tourists to also be advised of what we had been believing in and be aware of these fantastical creatures.

Let me site some of these monsters:

1. Mananaggla 
   Half bodied monster, this is usually shown as a woman, young and beautiful who transforms into a half bodied bat, flying around the village looking for pregnant women whom they'll be sucking up the baby inside her tummy.

2. Aswang
   Comparable to evil witches. They appear to be young and beautiful as well but are also old and blood suckers.

3. Demonyo
   Represented by an ugly man with horns killing children and other humans.

4. Dracula
   A foreign guest monster. You know what dracula does.

5. Duwende
   Dwarves who will try to lure you and keep children imprisoned in their kingdom underneath.

6. Diwata
   Nymph, white ladies who are sometimes good and sometimes bad spirits. They would frighten us with their white costumes and invisible faces.

 

An hour or two is not enough to really explore what the GAP Farm can offer. We didn't have enough time though to roam around since it was already noon and the sun was really shining up our heads. But if given a chance, I would definitely want to go back and check more of its facilities and services.

 

Check my other blog posts for our Davao Weekend Escapade:

Weekend In Davao

Sea foods, Beach Bums and More at Sta. Reta Resort

GAP Farm Gallery

Weekend in Davao Gallery

Talikod Island, Davao Gallery

 

Hope you had fun! Till next blog!

Copyright 2016 Jean Beltran-Figues

All rights reserved.