Sun.Star Davao
CARRYING TATAY DIGONG’S LEGACY
ACTING NO MORE. Sebastian Z. Duterte and Rodrigo S. Duterte II formally assumed office as Mayor and Vice Mayor of Davao City, respectively, after taking their oaths on Friday, January 23, 2026, at Davao City Hall. The oath-taking was administered by...
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AMEJARA INCIDENT FALLOUT
THE Philippine Coast Guard District Southeastern Mindanao (CGDSEM) is set to relieve the commander of the Coast Guard Sta. Ana Substation along with its seven personnel. Macy Gabion, acting deputy commander of CGDSEM, said this directive came from the...
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SEARCH WIDENS FOR AMEJARA
THE Philippine Coast Guard District Southeastern Mindanao (CGDSEM) is investigating the unauthorized departure of the motorbanca MBCA Amejara, which capsized in rough seas off Sarangani, leaving only one of 13 confirmed passengers rescued while 12...
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PROTECTION FOR KIDS.
The Department of Health–Davao Region (DOH-Davao) officially rolled out the Measles-Rubella Supplemental Immunization Activity on Monday morning, January 19, 2026, at SM Lanang Premier. The ceremonial launch in Davao City featured the first symbolic...
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VIVA, HOLY INFANT JESUS OF PRAGUE!
Devotees gathered at Shrine Hills, Davao City to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Infant Jesus of Prague on Thursday, January 15, 2026, filling the shrine with prayers and faith as they honored the beloved Child Jesus.
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SUNDAY MORNINGS AT THE COASTAL ROAD.
Health enthusiasts make the most of the “Car-Free Sunday” initiative at the Davao City Coastal Road on Sunday, January 11, 2026. Every Sunday, the stretch from Crossing Bago Aplaya to Crossing Tulip Drive is closed to motorists from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. to...
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BEYOND THROWAWAY CULTURE
A DAVAO City-based environmental group is pushing for a circular economy to lessen waste generation and encourages Dabawenyos to adopt it to ensure the city’s sanitary landfill remains sustainable. Lemuel Manalo, program coordinator of Interfacing...
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TRASLACION.
A member of the Hijos del Nazareno or “Sons of the Nazarene” is seen throwing back a towel during the Traslacion on Friday afternoon, January 9, 2026, along R. Magsaysay Avenue in Davao City. Devotees throw towels toward the image of the Black Nazarene...
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BUSINESS PERMIT RENEWAL.
Business owners flock to the City Government of Davao’s Business Bureau on Monday afternoon, January 5, 2026 as the city officially kicks off business permit renewal for the new year. The renewal period will run until January 31.
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FREE DATA FOR LEARNERS
THE Department of Information and Communications Technology–Davao Region (DICT-Davao) will give free SIM cards with mobile data to students in Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA) as part of the pilot Bayanihan SIM Project. Engr....
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LOCAL TALENT, GLOBAL STAGE
DAVAO once again proves itself a cradle of talent and innovation as its top universities showcase their ingenuity on international platforms. Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) and the University of Mindanao (UM) recently garnered multiple awards,...
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FIRST MAJOR FIRE OF 2026.
Firefighters respond to a blaze at Gaisano Grand Citygate in Buhangin, Davao City, on Friday afternoon, January 2, 2026. The fire was raised to the third alarm at 4:25 p.m. As of press time, firefighters continue to battle the blaze amid moderate rain.
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IN-DEMAND ROUND FRUITS,
Despite the scorching sun, a bustling scene unfolds at Bankerohan Public Market in Davao City as Dabawenyos rush to buy last-minute ingredients and round fruits for their festive Media Noche on New Year’s eve, December 31, 2025. The 12 types of round...
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LAST GLIMPSE.
The first mall in Davao City, Victoria Plaza, will permanently close today, December 31, 2026, after its recent acquisition by a new owner, paving the way for another development project. Opened on March 16, 1993, in time for that year’s Araw ng Dabaw...
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SEASON OF SERVICE
CHRISTMAS in the Davao Region is more than lights, carols, and festive décor. Across its provinces and cities, the season became a time of service — marked by generosity, community care, and programs that brought the true meaning of Pasko closer to the...
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PEACEFUL PASKO PAHALIPAY
THIS year’s Pasko Pahalipay sa Taal, a long-running Christmas tradition of the Duterte family, pushed through peacefully on Christmas Day, December 25, even as former President Rodrigo R. Duterte remained in The Hague, Netherlands to face trial. This...
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HOLIDAY LOVE ON THE GO.
Fresh from their day shift, a couple pauses at a Christmas display along R. Castillo Street in Agdao, Davao City, capturing a sweet moment and sharing holiday cheer.
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FLAGS OF HOPE.
Magbok Fil-Chinese Friendship School students wave small Philippine and Chinese flags while holding snack and gift bags from the Association of Davao Fil-Chinese Communities and the Chinese Consulate General in Davao during the school’s formal turnover...
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QUESTIONS OVER SEGMENT B
A DAVAO City councilor expressed shock at the seemingly forced opening of the Davao City Coastal Bypass Road Segment B (Tulip to Roxas) to motorists and drivers. Councilor Jopet Baluran, who chairs the committee on transportation, said that to verify...
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READY FOR THE HOLIDAYS.
Torotots are a common scene nowadays, as Christmas eve is fast approaching. Here, a vendor along the sidewalk of Bankerohan Public Market in Davao City sells torotot, widely used as a safer alternative since firecrackers are banned in the city.
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1ST DAY OF MISA DE GALLO.
Mass-goers exit the San Pedro Cathedral, in San Pedro Street, Davao City, after attending the first mass for the first day of Simbang Gabi or Misa de Gallo, illuminated by the fully-lighted belfry of the only cathedral in the city, marking the start of...
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HOLIDAY RUSH.
Passengers scramble to board a public utility jeepney (PUJ) along R. Magsaysay Avenue in Davao City on Saturday evening, December 13, 2025, as heavy holiday traffic causes commuting difficulties. Despite the availability of buses— including the...
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ECONOMIC GROWTH.
Workers watch as a disassembled part of a crane is being lowered to the ground at a construction site on Pichon (formerly Magallanes) St, Davao City. According to a 2024 Philippine Statistics Authority report, Davao City holds the fastest growing...
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PASKONG DABAWENYO.
A staff of Barangay 39-D in Davao City double-checks their facade Christmas decorations minutes after the switching on of lights. Recently, the Davao City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) revealed that despite the budget adjustments for this year’s...
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HOLIDAY FOOD TRIP.
Tagumenyos and tourists enjoy their food trip at Tagum City’s Food Avenida, adding festive cheer to the season as it opens daily from 3 p.m. to 12 a.m. until December 30. Located at the Tagum City Hall along JV Ayala Avenida in Barangay Apokon, the...
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PASKOHAN SA KAPITOLYO, PASKOHAN SA DAVAO DE ORO.
The Provincial Government of Davao de Oro lit its first-ever giant Christmas tree with a festive burst of fireworks, much to the delight of the crowd. The event illuminated the province in vibrant colors and lights—an early Christmas gift especially...
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PASKO MAGIC HITS THE STREETS.
A traditional Filipino home float, decorated with festive Christmas ornaments, illuminates Roxas Avenue on Sunday evening, December 7, 2025, during the Banda Dasig and Parada sa Pasko. The vibrant display was part of Davao City’s Pasko Fiesta sa Davao...
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SOX ZINE FEST 2025
LOCAL literature in Soccsksargen remains young. While writers from Region 12 have seen their work published, awarded, and even taught in schools, formal literary circles and organized gatherings are only beginning to take root. One proof of that...
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INAUGURAL TRIP.
Residents from Toril, Davao City boarded the DC Buses for their inaugural trip on Friday, December 5, 2025, marking the start of operations for several new routes, including R102 (Toril-GE Torres), R103 (Toril-Roxas), R402 (Mintal-GE Torres), R403...
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OFFICIAL INSPECTION.
The P3.126-billion Bucana bridge, which is part of the Davao City Coastal Bypass Road project initiated by the former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, was officially inspected on Thursday, December 4, 2025. The 480-meter bridge, funded by...
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HANDS THAT SHAPE THE SEASON.
Along Tionko Avenue in Davao City, a man carefully and patiently works on a handcrafted parol, his hands moving with practiced precision. Each fold of bamboo and stroke of color reflects years of dedication to a cherished Filipino Christmas tradition....
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A MOTHER’S PLEA.
A woman carrying her baby sits along the sidewalk of Juan Luna Street in Davao City as she reaches out to students and other passersby for assistance. Authorities continue to remind the public about the restrictions on giving alms under the...
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A NEW RIVAL TO SMX
DAVAO City’s rapidly expanding economy is drawing in yet another major investment, this time a P500 million convention center set to rise in Maa. To be developed by a Davaobased company, the project is expected to match or even surpass the scale of...
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UNDERSTANDING BIODEGRADABLE WASTE
SWILL, the most common byproduct of food waste, has long been used as a primary or supplementary feed for hogs, particularly in backyard hog farming. While this practice was once seen as economical and productive, swill is not an ideal feed for hogs —...
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Baste warns drug pushers: You will pay in due time
ACTING Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte delivered a stern warning to drug pushers operating in the city, particularly those endangering children and young people, during the opening of Pasko Fiesta 2025, Thursday afternoon, November 27, at...
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‘BELOVED KAP’ SHOT DEAD
THE Digos City barangay captain who was shot dead on Tuesday evening, November 25, while doing a Facebook Live, had repeatedly said he was receiving death threats, warnings he shared as he took strong political positions online in support of Davao del...
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TIMELESS CHRISTMAS AT DGT.
Davao Global Township (DGT) lit up its 50-foot-tall Christmas tree adorned with colorful decorations and gifts, ushering in the Christmas season with the theme “Timeless Christmas at DGT” on Sunday, November 23, 2025. During the program, DGT pledged...
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BUCANA BRIDGE OPENS IN DEC
THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said the Bucana Bridge, also known as the Davao River Bridge and part of the Davao Coastal Road project, is 99.2 percent complete and on track to open by December 2025. DPWH Senior Undersecretary for...
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TALLEST CHRISTMAS TREE IN PH NOW LIT.
Tagum City officially lit its 231-foot-tall giant holiday tree on November 21, 2024, at the City Hall Square. This year’s theme is a carnival, featuring decorations such as hot air balloons, a Ferris wheel, and carousels. Tagum City’s Christmas tree...
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PHOTO BY RALPH LLEMIT
At the meat section of the Bankerohan Public Market in Davao City, a cheerful vendor wipes his stall clean, his smile masking the long hours and daily struggles behind his work. Each vendor’s story is one of perseverance — a quiet testament to the...
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MISSING IMAGE.
The image of Sebastian “Baste” Duterte with the placard as vice mayor is hung along the second floor of the Sanguniang Panlungsod, where the images of the incumbent councilors in the city are shown, while the area for the mayor remains vacant, on...
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START ‘EM YOUNG.
A young lady smiles as she tends to a customer at their family’s lively street ukay-ukay near Bankerohan Public Market in Davao City. Many families in the area rely on small street businesses like this to earn a living, teaching their children the...
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JOYFUL HOLIDAYS IN THE CITY.
SM Lanang in Davao City welcomed the holidays in grand style as it lit up its 55-foot Christmas tree with more than 2,000 ornaments and illuminations haloed by 13 cascading evergreens on Saturday, November 8, 2025. This year’s theme, “Unwrap a Joyful...
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RESTING BUT NEVER STOPPING.
After hours of assisting pedestrians, especially senior citizens and pregnant women, under the sweltering heat, personnel from the Davao City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) take a brief moment to rest at a nearby outpost in Quezon...
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HOLIDAYS IN THE CITY.
SM City Davao is lit up for the season as it kicks off its “Holidays in the City” celebration on Tuesday evening, November 4, 2025, featuring grand 30-foot Christmas trees, dazzling lights, and festive decorations that highlight family and togetherness.
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BIOSECURITY BOOSTED
THE Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) has implemented a heightened biosecurity alert following a confirmed case of avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, which poses a significant risk to the Philippine eagles housed at the Philippine Eagle...
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UNDERSTANDING BIODEGRADABLE WASTE
I(Part 1) T IS A COMMON thought that food scraps, considered biodegradable waste, are acceptable to be thrown anywhere, as these are “biodegradable” anyway, meaning they will decompose eventually. During a random interview with passersby who were...
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GOING HOME FOR UNDAS.
A steady flow of passengers was observed at the Davao City Overland Transport Terminal in Candelaria Street (more commonly known as Ecoland) on October 31, 2025, a holiday declared by the Malacañang Palace, through Proclamation No. 727, to provide...
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MORE AREAS UNDER STATE OF CALAMITY
THE province of Davao de Oro and the city of Tagum have been placed under a state of calamity after sustaining extensive damage from the twin earthquakes that rocked Davao Oriental and neighboring areas earlier this month. The magnitude 7.4 and 6.8...
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STREET SURVIVAL.
An elderly man pushes his cart along Quirino Avenue in Davao City amid stopped vehicles, venturing onto the roadway in violation of traffic and pedestrian safety laws—highlighting not only the dangers and lack of enforcement on the city’s busy streets...
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GENEROSITY CONTINUES
THE 21st Davao City Council has approved P2.7 million in cash assistance for the Province of Davao Oriental, which was heavily affected by the powerful doublet earthquake that struck on October 10, 2025. The ordinance, proposed by Councilor Danilo...
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EARLY VISIT.
Visitors began arriving at Wireless Public Cemetery along Fr. Selga Street in Davao City on Monday afternoon, October 27, 2025, in anticipation of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day on November 1 and 2.
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20K WALK FOR REPENTANCE
THE Davao City Police Office (DCPO) confirmed that the Archdiocesan Penitential Walk and Holy Mass held on October 25, 2025, concluded peacefully, with no untoward incidents or violence reported. The DCPO said the event, organized by the Archdiocese...
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RESCUE DOGS.
The Municipality of Quezon, Bukidnon, deployed three rescue dogs from the 403rd Brigade and the 10th Infantry Division in a retrieval operation following a landslide on October 18, 2023, that buried the couple, Ely and Thelma, who were found earlier on...
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BOMB THREATS.
The Davao City Police Office (DCPO) responded to two separate bomb threats on Wednesday, October 22, 2025 — the first at Davao Wisdom Academy along F. Torres Street in the morning (left), and another at Mintal Comprehensive National Senior High School...
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BINI AIAH IN DAVOR.
Maraiah Queen Arceta, known as Aiah (leftmost wearing face mask) of the PPop group BINI joined the 7th Air Reserve Center’s relief mission in Manay, Davao Oriental on October 20, 2025, helping deliver aid and uplift the spirits of those affected by the...
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SEARCH CONTINUES.
Search and retrieval operations continue in Barangay Palacapao, Quezon, Bukidnon, for a couple who were riding a tricycle when they were buried by soil after a portion of the Bukidnon-Davao Road in Sitio Kipolot collapsed on Saturday, October 18, 2025....
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SHAKEN BUT STANDING
NINE days after twin high-intensity earthquakes shook this eastern province, residents of Davao Oriental are still reeling — their homes cracked, livelihoods disrupted, and nerves tested by more than a thousand aftershocks. Yet amid fear and...
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CHRISTMAS IN THE HAGUE
VICE President Sara Duterte said her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, is expected to spend the Christmas season in The Hague, Netherlands, where he remains in detention. The Vice President said they were informed by her father’s lawyer that...
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BEAUTY WITH HEART.
Miss Earth Australia 2025 Alexa Roder lets Akiesha Eve Andrade, a former patient of the Maharlika Charity Foundation, wear her crown for a moment, telling the young girl — who was born with a cleft lip and palate and later underwent surgery through the...
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DONATION.
Deputy Consul General Wang Mingqing of the Consulate General Davao of the People’s Republic of China turned over P4 million worth of relief goods to Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, at the Provincial Capitol Gym,...
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NEW BUSES, NEW HOPE
Dcott manager Aisa Usop, in an interview with SunStar Davao, said the terminal’s daily operations will not be affected even as it temporarily serves as the garage for the city’s 10 new buses. “These city buses will operate within Davao City, while...
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HELP POURS FOR SURVIVORS
DIFFERENT KIND OF BAYANIHAN. Residents of far-flung Sitio Gumayan in Barangay Kingking, Pantukan, Davao de Oro, carry the body of their dead neighbor to town so that it can be properly embalmed and be enclosed in a decent casket. They were assisted by...
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TOO YOUNG TO MARRY
DESPITE a law prohibiting it, child marriage remains widespread in the island provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, where socio-cultural traditions, poverty, and weak law enforcement continue to endanger children’s futures. According to Unicef Philippines’...
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7.4 DAVAO QUAKE KILLS 3
APOWERFUL magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Manay, Davao Oriental, on Friday morning, October 10, shaking large parts of Mindanao and the Visayas, killing at least three people in Davao Region, injuring hundreds, and prompting mass...
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MINING DIALOGUE.
Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang speaks with local officials during a dialogue in Barangay Macambol to address mining activities that damaged over 200 hectares of land and blocked a key road project. He urged collective action to stop the...
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BRIDGING FUN AND FRIENDSHIP.
A group of friends from Bangkal in Davao City carefully crosses a rusty hanging bridge on a weekday afternoon, steadying themselves as it sways above the water. They’re on their way to a nearby basketball court in Matina Aplaya for an afternoon game.
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WADING THROUGH LIFE.
A fisherman wades through the shallow waters near the Talomo Coastal Bridge in Matina Aplaya, Davao City, on a sunny afternoon as small boats rest nearby, offering a glimpse of everyday life along the city’s coastline.
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VAWC CASES DECLINE
THE Integrated Gender and Development Division (IGDD) reported a slight decline in Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) cases in Davao City, from 2,707 cases in 2023 to 2,386 in 2024. Based on the IGDD’s report released on March 3, 2025, the...
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EMPOWERING LGUs
FOR decades, local governments in Mindanao have dreamed of building better roads, hospitals, schools, and water systems. But too often, those dreams were buried in paperwork, stuck waiting for budget approvals from Manila that arrived late, or not at...
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P1.79-M DAMAGE IN PIAPI FIRE
A MASSIVE fire tore through Barangay 21-C, Piapi Boulevard in Davao City on Thursday afternoon, October 2, 2025, displacing hundreds of families and damaging an estimated P1.79 million worth of property. The Davao City Fire District reported that 179...
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DABAWENYOS FOR SUGBU
THE City Government of Davao has sent about 5,000 food packs and non-food items, inter-agency personnel, such as social workers and psychologists, as assistance to earthquake-affected areas in Cebu Province. More than 13 trucks left the City Hall...
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NO AGE LIMIT TO PRODUCTIVITY.
In El Rio Vista Village, Bacaca, Davao City, an elderly man repairs his bicycle, showing that age is no obstacle to staying active and capable. To support seniors in finding meaningful work, the Davao City Government, through the Public Employment...
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CALCULATED POLITICAL PLOY
VICE President Sara Duterte said she has no direct reaction to the sudden resignation of House Speaker Martin Romualdez on September 17, but called the move a calculated political ploy planned with the backing of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos...
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