DavNor Sports and Cultural Center

The Davao del Norte Sports and Cultural Center just opened its doors to the public Monday in time for the opening of the Davao Region Athletic Association Meet, a springboard event for hopefuls vying to compete in Palarong Pambansa. Located just across the provincial government of Davao del Norte in the capital city of Tagum, the DavNor Sports and Cultural Center is the first of its kind in Davao Region, featuring world-class facilities that are at par with the standards set by modern sports stadiums.

The all-weather, eight-lane rubberized oval track in the sprawling DavNor Sports and Cultural Center in Mankilam, Tagum City.

2013 Musikahan sa Tagum Experience

As what our eye bags would tell, it was truly a hell of a week. But make no mistake: Though it was physically and mentally demanding, the 12th Musikahan sa Tagum Festival is one that is worth cherishing for a lifetime. This is my second Musikahan with the City Information Office (the other one was when I was a volunteer, editing a daily gazette for the 3rd International Rondalla Festival) and the feeling of having a front-row seat to document a festival, with all its grandeur and spectacle, is but an enriching experience.

For five days, Tagum City transformed into a grand stage for music with its finest music festival that kicked off Mindanao's cultural calendar. Now on its 12th year, the Musikahan sa Tagum Festival is a bold testament  to Tagum City's moniker as the "Music City of the South." And why not? Throughout the celebration, Tagumeños and people from other places in Davao Region were charmed by the magic of music in all genres, making Musikahan an all-inclusive and longest-running Music Festival in the Philippines. 

The New City Hall of Tagum serves as a good backdrop during the Avenida Musika National Marching Brass Band Competition. 
Photo by Louie Lapat

Alma L. Uy, chairperson of the City of Tagum Tourism Council, said in her speech that Musikahan has branded itself as "a festival that connects people." True enough, especially this year when Musikahan elevated its mettle in music by utilizing it as a powerful tool to reach out and help. This year's Musikahan introduced its Cultural Action Project that is anchored on extending long-term assistance to the victims of Typhoon Pablo in Compostela Valley. After that fateful day on December 4, 2012, organizers scrapped their laid-out plans to make way for programs pursued in the context of staging a creative and meaningful ways to help, thereby changing the landscape of this year's music revelries.

Movie Review: Les Miserables

Anne Hathaway's "I Dreamed a Dream" is one of the poignant highlights of the film.

When the cinema lights were turned off, the usual pre-show noise instantly transformed into silence. This magnified, perhaps, the irresistible desire of the audience to witness the critically-acclaimed musical, Les Miserables, on the silver screen. In my time where geography and time hindered us to marvel the wonders of a musical or a stage play, watching Les Miserables on the big canvas is not just a mere time killer but also a grand experience.

Les Miserables is a whooping delight, made extravagant with hair-raising music with such powerful lyrics, excellent cinematography and a greatly intertwined stories revolving in an era of revolution. This, in my opinion, were the driving force in the sustained silence inside the cinema—something that you really need to appreciate a movie with such an epic scale.

One needs to prepare for the tear-jerking moments hyped up in this “all-singing, all-suffering” film based on the novel by Victor Hugo. Set in 18th-century France and on the verge of a revolution, Les Miserables is a timeless story of broken dreams, unrequited love, selflessness and the unyielding desire for change and freedom. Religion and faith and the goodness of the human spirit dominate the film, but it was melancholy that rings the loudest.

State of my Music's Choice

I've always been fascinated with music, inasmuch as other people would adore their gadgets, or how people believe in fairytales. Personally, music has always been a friend--stimulating my creative juices (if ever there is one), providing me some sort of relaxation when stressed and most of the time, being a buddy while working in the wee hours of the morning either cramming before deadlines or those moments of endless scroll down's and clicks here and there. I find it very hard to write without music in my ears. I mean this has always been a pre-requisite before writing or making some stuff that needs concentration.

I happen to write this after looking back at what happened the whole day today. Someone has talked about someone's music as "baduy." And I really felt alluded, because this I admit: My choice of music is definitely different. But then I realized we all do have different genres of music that we like. Otherwise, that would make all of us weird and "baduy" in every sense of the world. Our respective taste in music reflects our being diverse yet united with our adoration of music whatever genre may that be.