Bangus Keepers

While waiting for the daybreak, I caught up these men taking care of the newly-harvested bangus from the fish cages of Barangay Tagabuli, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. Considered as the fishing capital of Sta. Cruz, Tagabuli takes pride of its ocean bangus production, a prime source of income of local folks. This huge production of bangus is attributed to the presence of a an ocean cove in the area, an ideal location for bangus production in a cage.   

Badjao Elder

Just before our South Korean visitors from Soon Chun Hyang University left Sta. Cruz on January 18, 2014; they invited me and my colleagues for a short program in the Badjao area particularly at Apo Beach last January 17 in the morning. There I spotted this old Badjao woman, too old that she can no longer walk (she's already bed-ridden). She instead stayed in her house and enjoyed the presentation of the Koreans. According to my Badjao friends, this woman is a master weaver of romblon mat, a traditional skill which is sadly diminishing in their locality now because only very few young Badjaos have acquired the skill in mat weaving.

Bunotiro

This is an image I took in Ayala Agricultural Farm in Darong, Sta. Cruz. With huge plantations of coconut in the area, number of residents are earning a living out of coco farming while others are plain labor workers such as this one (bunotiro), someone who removes the husk. Other labors which I also personally know and tried during my younger days are pamonton,panungkit, pangariton, pamuwak and panglasik. To be honest, a lot of my successful neighbors and friends in Sta. Cruz deeply owed so much gratitude from this commodity they call "TREE OF LIFE".

Sea foods

It has been a routine for me and my wife to always drop by Sta. Cruz Public Market after every office hour everyday (except Saturday and Sunday) to buy some stuff for our dinner. One of the places that we always visit is the wet market sea foods portion where we could choose an array of fresh sea foods products such as fish, prawn and sea weeds among others. As the new year unfolds, prices of these commodities have gone up a bit higher as compared to ordinary days especially now that there is a threat of a typhoon expected to hit the Mindanao region.

Feeling the Rush

I visited our public market here in Sta. Cruz yesterday to see how things went through hours before the new year's eve and I ended up feeling the holiday rush despite the very early time at 6:00 AM. As I had a short photowalk, I found out these usual new year commodities such as loaf bread and assorted fruits being laid out within the thoroughfares of the market perimeter. New year is perhaps one of the most-anticipated and widely-celebrated holidays in the Philippines and is manifested by this kind of scene every December 31 of each year.   

Rizal Day

I spent a little time today attending the 117th death anniversary of the Philippine's National Hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal. It was celebrated in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur with a military honors and is attended by local government officials, the military and police, educators, student and the general public. The Mayor of Sta. Cruz Joel Ray Lopez stressed several historical facts about the great hero. Here is an image I took during the wreath-laying part of the program.

Mesa de Gallo

It took me five attempts before I finally able to shoot an early morning mass. Locally they call it Simbang Gabi, but I titled it "Mesa de Gallo" as it is the appropriate term of the mass being conducted very early in the morning as part of the nine-morning offering to be culminated every December 24. After the mass, an early-morning snack will be served featuring local delicacies such as puto, suman, tinapay and coffee. This Filipino Christmas tradition has been alive in the Philippines over the years which was acquired from the Spaniards.I took this shot just this morning (December 20, 2013) at San Miguel Chapel, Crossing Tuban, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.