Experiencing Mindanao through concerts

Who doesn't want to travel? Not me definitely. I'm very lucky that since the first year of my career, I've been asked to go to different places both abroad and around the country. And it's truly exciting to see what makes a place unique, from its architecture to its food to the habits and values of the people living in it. But it's equally exciting to find out familiarities and similarities that you find in places where you go. This is true most especially when you visit a foreign land.

This year, I've gone around the country and visited the Philippines' top urban areas (ergo commercially viable for our business to be in) and towards the end of this month, I'll be crisscrossing Mindanao as I do events in Gen. San (Sep 26), Iligan (Sep 29) and Zamboanga (Oct 1). This is very unplanned and I just realized it as I was lining up my events. Tiring man... From Gen San, I will take a bus (or hopefully a van) to Davao then CDO then Iligan. And then from Iligan, I'll go back to CDO, fly to Cebu and then fly back to Mindanao via Zamboanga. I imagine that would be most grueling. Gaah. But the adventurer in me is also excited. I already have visions of mountains, farms, forests and seas and everything beautiful that makes Mindanao the land of promise and equally, consequently, a land of dispute, rivalry and contest.

Speaking of dispute, I've never been afraid of secessionist hostilities affecting my events since I'm usually in areas where there seems to be genuine peace among the local population. But what I'm usually afraid of is the volume of the crowd that we usually attract. The youth of Mindanao I noticed, are not really wild (compared to what I've experienced in other parts of the country). They generally follow harmonious etiquette towards each other but still, the usually large number of attendees scare me and my security team. In a sea of people, it feels like something's bound to happen. Fortunately, we've not yet (hopefully never would we) encountered a problem with securing the band and the crowd and sometimes, it's actually the band creating problems for us. Being rebels, I think it's natural for them to stretch the limits of our security's resources and test 'til where they could go. Ergo, you have this lead vocalist who rips his shirt off and then throws himself to the crowd, outside the safety barricades we've put up, but to the delight of the crowd of course. Was I delighted at that sight? Hmn. I wasn't totally amused but I get his act.

So Mindanao, a land of my roots, I shall come home to you again. =)