1. ENTREPRENEURS and the PRESIDENT’S WORKPLACE

ENTREPRENEURS and the PRESIDENT’S WORKPLACE

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

9 November 2016

I arrived this morning and waited almost an hour outside the arrival area of the Davao International Airport for my co-worker and a couple of others whose luggage were not included in our flight and was left in Manila. After they made some arrangements with Cebu Pacific, we bounded for The Royal Mandaya Hotel in Poblacion District where the four-day 2^nd Negosyo sa Bayan Entrepreneurship Support Development Training will be held. Coinciding with this activity is the two-day National Micro Small Medium Enterprise (MSME) Summit 2016 - "Growing Global MSMEs" which will convene the following day at SMX Davao Conventional Center in SM Lanang Premier. As always and as usual, “lagare na naman ako”, a popular idiomatic expression for Filipinos who does many jobs or obligations at the same time in different places.

A friend, who is a fellow media practitioner, gave me a book in 2002 entitled “Davao History” by Ernesto I. Corcino published by the Philippine Centennial Movement Davao City Chapter in 1998 and Chapter 4 (Contracting Colonialism) narrates; “the territory that held the most interest for the Spaniards especially the traders of the east coast was the Davao Gulf, also known as Taglooc Bay and Seno de Davao. The pioneering Christian traders were particularly interested in the supply of gutta-percha or resin, lumbang nuts, beeswax, honey, and even gold dust”. One of these entrepreneurs was Don Jose Oyanguren y Cruz, a native of Vergara, Guipuzcoa, Spain, who would later lead the conquest of Davao and name the region as Nueva Guipuzcoa and the locality as Nueva Vergara, now Davao City.

In my numerous trips to Davao, I never fail to stop at the Aldevinco Shopping Center, an 8,370 square meter commercial shop located at the junction of Claro M. Recto Avenue and Manuel Roxas Boulevard. The complex, designed by Architect Roman Solitaria and Engr. Ed Leuenberger, was inaugurated and opened to the public on January 2, 1965 and currently houses over 100 shops, most of which are operated by the second generation of the original Davao entrepreneur tenants. Aldevinco, short for Alson Development and Investment Corporation, founded by Mr. & Mrs. Conrado Dela Cruz Alcantara (and wife Ladislawa Inquimboy-Alcantara), is where foreign and local tourists alike gather and buy souvenir items to bring back home. The establishments are a showcase of the culture and heritage of Mindanao. Prices are negotiable especially when products are bought in bulk. First buyers of the day are also privileged to discounted prices. Entrepreneurs were invited as far as Batangas who sold abaca products, barong fabrics, kimonas, patadyongs, and other handmade goods from the North. Four entrepreneurs have been in business since the shopping center’s inauguration 51 years ago. The Alcantara Group is one of the country’s largest and most diversified conglomerates which has interests in agriculture, aquaculture, mining, real estate, and power generation mostly in Mindanao. Mayor Duterte wrote last year in his congratulatory note to the Alcantara family, tenants, and management staff of the Aldevinco; “The Aldevinco Shopping Center is already a by-name, a tourist destination, and a very popular landmark right in the heart of Davao City…because of your unique approach to business and to your clientele. I can only urge you to continue the good work and be part of the wonderful growth of Davao City.”

In this year’s national and local elections, the Philippines elected its 16th president. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte is the sixth president of the Fifth Republic. Malacañang Palace, built in 1750 by Don Luís Rocha as a summer house, in San Miguel District along the banks of the Pasig River in the capital-city of Manila is the official residence and workplace of our head of state and is now Duterte’s new home. However, for the past four months, Davao has become the official “workplace” of the president. Most of his incoming and outgoing flights abroad is in Francisco Bangoy International Airport (Davao International Airport) in Buhangin District and he receives most of his guests and conducts activities and programs in the country’s biggest city in terms of land area, Davao.     

There are numerous instances that the work place of the president was not in the capital City of Manila. It was relocated due to political and strategic reasons and call of the times. Browsing Sonia M. Zaide’s “The Philippines, A Unique Nation”, published in 1994, reveals the other workplace of our head of government were in Cebu (1565-1569) and Iloilo (1566-1576) under Miguel Lopez de Legazpi; Bacolor, Pampanga (1762-1764) during the British Occupation; San Miguel, Bulacan (1897) under the Biak na Bato Republic; Iloilo & Zamboanga (1898) under the last Spanish Governor-Generals; Cavite El Viejo (1896-1898), Malolos, Bulacan (1898-1899), San Isidro, Nueva Ecija (1899), Angeles, Pampanga (1899), Tarlac, Tarlac province (1899), Bayambang, Pangasinan (1899) and Palanan, Isabela (1900-1901) under President Emilio Aguinaldo; Corregidor Island and Washington, D.C., USA (1941-1942) under President Quezon; Tacloban, Leyte (1945) under President Osmeña; Baguio and Nara in Japan (1944-1945) under President Laurel; and Quezon City (1948-1976) by virtue of RA333. In Palanan, the last seat of the 1^st Republic, President Emilio Aguinaldo celebrated the 2^nd Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the Philippines (September 29), Rizal’s 4^th Death Anniversary (December 30), 1^st Anniversary of the Malolos Republic (January 22) and his 32^nd Birthday (March 22).

The Palacio del Gobernador in the walled city of Intramuros was the first official residence of the Gobernador-Heneral until it was transferred to Malacañang when the Palacio was destroyed by an earthquake on June 3, 1863. Another place of work of the President is in Baguio City - “The Mansion”, the official summer residence inaugurated in 1908. During the Marcos era, the president constructed his holiday residence in Ilocos Norte known as the “Malacañang of the North” or “Malacañang ti Amianan” in Paoay town and his unfinished mansion in Tagaytay City - “Palace in the Sky”, now known as People’s Park in the Sky. Under the current administration, President Digong wants to rename Malacañang to Peoples' Palace.

With the advent of technology, it is no longer important where the official station of the president is, either it be in Imperial Manila, in Luzon, the Visayas or in Mindanao. What is important is that government services reach all corners of the country’s 7,107 islands. With these vital public services ready and available, entrepreneurs especially those within the micro small medium enterprise can surely help mold and boost up our economy for a better Philippines.