Brownout

Maybe it would take another long period for the people of Davao del Sur to recover the incidence of brownouts. The power shortage as claimed by concerned authorities has been tagged as the main reasons for the rotational brownouts for the last couple of months. Even up to these days of December there are still occasional incidence of brownouts in some parts of the province. Hopefully this situation will be stabilized early next year. Meanwhile, here is a photo I took last December 9 in the house at around 6:45 in the evening. My wife and daughter, despite the very dark scene in our living room, continue their one-on-one conversation and tutorial (I just don't know what was it all about, it could have been a Christmas caroling song).They, however, enjoyed using our common house flashlight.     

Alsa Matada

This is how folks in the Barrio weigh a live pig before butchering. This is also a prevailing trading scheme usually practiced in the rural areas. This photo was taken in Darong, Sta. Cruz in a very residence of this blogger sometime May 2013. One of the guys here in left is a cousin while the other one is a good friend. After this traditional weighing of the animal, it will be butchered and its meat will be sold to barrio neighbors. It is usually done during weekends.   

Sandara

My friends in the Badjao community here in Sta. Cruz fondly call her SANDARA, her nickname patterned after that popular half-Pinay, half-Korean star Sandara Park. She dwelled  in a Badjao area and has also been part of the community that I adored. I took this photo when I joined a pool of DSWD personnel who conducted a validation and shoot drive of its Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) on December 2, 2013. 

Kargador

Sharing another photo here from Bato, Sta. Cruz; a fishing barangay where majority of the residents earn a living through deep sea fishing and fish culture. I saw this person early in the morning hauling feed stocks (approximately 50 kilograms per sack) to be delivered to fish cages for bangus (milkfish) feeding. The mangrove forest which serve as backdrop here is a reserve area and has over the years been protected by the local community. One of the rare mangrove reserves, Barangay Bato's coastline is also visited by excursionist to take first hand insights regarding community-based coastal protection program. 

Pahiyom Samaleño

Late summer of 2013, I caught up these kids somewhere in Samal Island, when I joined an event relative to the Visit Samal initiative of LGU IGACOS. Aside from being host to several tourism attractions in the entire region, Samal is also blessed with warm people, which is manifested by this photo.

No Parking

A fisher folk here from Bato, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur unties his boat from the docking point as he is ready to take the usual routine of visiting his fish cages at the other side of the bay in Barangay Tagabuli. Being an isolated cove, Tagabuli and Bato border is a good site for marine culture project. I took this photo in the early morning of November 7, 2013 along with some photographer friends from Davao City. Special thanks to Mr. Roland Jumawan for being a good mentor.  

The Waiting

Kids from Barangay Zone 4, Sta. Cruz wait for their respective fathers to dock in a local shore, hoping that a good and plenty early morning catches will be offered to them for a day's consumption. If fortunate, fishers in this area sometimes earn income out of fishing.