"Why can't the rest of the Philippines be as nice as Dumaguete?" someone asked me once. He's an American who has traveled to most places in the country than any of us: Palawan, Boracay, Ilocos, Batangas, Siargao, Bacolod, Samar, Leyte, Siquijor, Davao, Cagayan, Camiguin, Guimaras, Moalboal, Iloilo, Manila, Zamboanga, and yes, even that little speck off Cebu called Malapascua island. So when he repeated his question I pricked my ears and opened my eyes wider as we wandered the streets of this City of Gentle People.
It was easy to tell this place is different the moment our fastcraft docked at the pier. I looked down the harbor, the waters are so clear and clean, I could see the bottom which is clean as well. No sunken wood or scrap metal underwater, no floating plastics or candy wrappers. Traveling with a foreigner is often a hassle because we attract many smooth operators who demand exorbitant rates. In Tagbilaran, for example, after turning down the P200 fare for the one-way tricycle ride to Panglao, we bumped into a wiseguy who told us it's "only P300." Not so in Dumaguete. As we made our way through the crowd of welcomers, there were no pushy vendors, taxi drivers, or tour guides. Instead, they stood aside and gave us room to pass, while shyly asking "Taxi, ma'am, taxi?" We hailed a passing tricycle and upon reaching our destination I gave him P5 and he wordlessly gave me the exact change. No hassles, no haggling.
The pride of this city is the acacia-lined Rizal Boulevard. During late afternoons one can enjoy the cool sea breeze as dusk settles. But it is in the early evening when most people come out. Children chase each other or do somersaults in the grass. College sweethearts sit by the seawall quietly enjoying a moment together. High school barkadas occupy the benches close to the lightposts and one can hear their teasing and chuckles being carried by the breeze. Older people prefer to take their evening stroll through this memory-laden boulevard. On weekends many young couples bring their children out to wade or splash in the shallow waters.
We explored the other parts of the city and were heartened by the neatness of the interior streets. Maybe the presence of garbage bins at every corner would explain this. Even their vacant lots were free of garbage, so unlike the vacant lots in Mandaue. Although Dumaguete is a "college town" owing to the presence of Silliman University (population, about 10,000) and many other colleges we didn't see any of those sprayed graffiti so prevalent in Cebu City. My companion was accosted by a cop for jaywalking. He was impressed because elsewhere he would have gotten away with it, being a foreigner. We ordered beer at a restaurant and the waitress solemnly shook her head because the clock just struck nine and there was a liquor ban at this hour, the eatery a mere stone's throw away from Silliman.
Dumaguete is no hicksville, for it has all the little perks of modern living. They have banks with ATM facilities, Internet servers, fitness gymns, hamburger and pizza parlors, nightclubs, sing-along bars, movie houses, cable TV, ballroom dance and disco hang-outs, bookshops, and best of all, three different fastcraft companies ferrying passengers from Dumaguete to Cebu, Siquijor, Tagbilaran, Cagayan de Oro and Dipolog/Dapitan.
The city's best feature remains to be its people. Refer to the regions section of Sunstar or The Freeman and compare the news. Bacolod, Zamboanga and Tacloban are probably reporting about corruption and crime, but the news from the City of Gentle People are about the closure of business establishments near schools for serving alcoholic drinks, or the city council passing a resolution for the education of orphans, or the citizens' objection to the expansion of the port because it will deface their beloved boulevard. Close by, the town council at Sibulan agonized over the recommendations of the Air Transport Office to trim (not cut down) the giant acacia trees along the highway for the expansion of the Dumaguete airport. Obviously, the people here do not pursue profit and progress as the end-all and be-all if it would erode their quality of life.