Rough Groove

Around Mindanao, 1 - Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte

First few weeks of October and I landed in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte for the start of my Mindanao leg for my assignment on Philippine churches. It has been years since I’ve been to this place. The last time I was here was when I was still based in Davao and I visited this city while doing some work in Dipolog.
The plane landed to a rather wet Monday morning brought about by a passing typhoon that I was quite worried that my planned shoot would be ruined by bad weather. Anyway, as I was already there, I really didn’t have much choice but to hope for the best. The city is really charming and cozy. Life is kind of slow, streets are wide and clean and generally peaceful. There are a few ancestral houses near the plaza and one is constantly reminded that this is also a city steeped in history with no less than Jose Rizal, the national hero, spent 4 years as an exile here.

Left, the relief map of Mindanao in front of the century old church. This was made by Rizal when he was exiled here. Right, one of the imposing ancestral house, the Corazon de Dapitan just a stone’s throw from the plaza.

Since a typhoon just passed when I came here, the sea was rough and brown with sediment from the river. A man, left, is holding a bag with shells that he has gathered.