Eye in the Sky: Philippines - Seeing the Sea In Davao del Sur

Davao del Sur, Mindanao Island - One of the great things about roaming this peaceful province is that wherever you go, you're just a few minutes away from the beach. It is blessed with the bluest seas. It is a land embraced by lush vegetation to the west and the clear Davao Gulf to the east. Those skyscraper-tall coconut trees are an amazing reminder of the past. How come? Many of them were planted by the Japanese army during their occupation 6-7 decades ago. Not a lot has changed.

RATES

Most beaches open to public are either free of charge or require dirt-cheap entrance fees: Leling Beach - PhP20; Seagull Inland Resort (not beach side) in Barangay Guihing, Municipality of Hagonoy - free entrance; Bolinao Beach in Barangay Dawis - free; Dawis Beach - P30/car, P10 for a pedicab (trike); Eagles' Eye Beach Resort (Malalag) - free entrance but concrete seats without a shelter is P150 while a basic cottage is a ridiculous P250; Villa Isabel Resort in the municipality of Malalag - P10/adult and P5/child. Where else do you find such rates? What could be cheaper than a free entrance?

Here's an introspective poem I'd like to share, from a talented wordsmith named Sidney Lanier:

March Song... At Sunset

Over the monstrous shambling sea,
Over the Caliban sea,
Bright Ariel-cloud, thou lingerest:
Oh wait, oh wait, in the warm red West, --
Thy Prospero I'll be.

Over the humped and fishy sea,
Over the Caliban sea
O cloud in the West, like a thought in the heart
Of pardon, loose thy wing, and start,
And do a grace for me.

Over the huge and huddling sea,
Over the Caliban sea,
Bring hither my brother Antonio, -- Man, --
My injurer: night breaks the ban;
Brother, I pardon thee.

________

In its reference to the Caliban seas, Lanier refers to the feral, sullen, misshapen creature in Shakespeare's The Tempest. The Caliban is Prospero's beastlike slave; the son of a sorceress and the sole inhabitant of an island. Curiously, the Caliban represents the native people's suffering under imperialist oppression. Perfect for Davao del Sur's rich historical past under the Japanese regime.
This is the Eye in the Sky!