Arcadia Active Lifestyle’s Event Center hosted the conferment ceremony of the prestigious 49th Datu Bago Awards on March 8, 2019.
Arcadia, a multi-purpose complex built by the Escandor Development Corporation (Esdevco), was picked as official venue of the event which served as one of the cultural highlights of the 82nd Araw ng Davao celebration.
City Mayor Inday Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio along with members of the Datu Bago Foundation councilor Pilar Braga and University of Mindanao President Mr. Guillermo Torres Jr. led the conferment rites to this year’s laureates lawyers Koronado B. Apuzen and Antonio B. Partoza, Jr., Ines P. Mallari, Datu Rodolfo M. Mande, and Mary Ann Maceda Montemayor.
Apuzen was recognized for his service to the marginalized and vulnerable sectors of Davao City. He developed ways to boost his clients’ incomes and improve their lives through community-based, organically grown, and multi-cropping farming methods for banana plantations owned and managed by farmers’ cooperatives.
Partoza was feted for having pioneered durian farming in Davao and is the man behind the famous Partoza Durian Farm. His premier variety of durian was recognized nationally and internationally. He was one of the pillars of the Mindanao Fruit Industry Development Council.
Mallari, who is a third generation war-displaced Japanese descendant, dedicated her life in the restoration of the identity of Davaoeno Japanese descendants as war-displaced Filipino-Japanese descendants and orphans who are entitled to certain rights and benefits.
A Matigsalug tribal leader from Marilog, Datu Mande used his education degree to promote literacy in the remotest Matigsalug villages and is considered as one of the pioneer teachers of the Foundation Learning for Indigenous Children (FLIC) of the Tribal Mission Foundation International. He contributed to the development of a culture-specific curriculum for indigenous people’s education as well as in securing educational scholarships for Matigsalug youth.
Lady entrepreneur and civic leader Montemayor is a multi-awarded private sector leader who received the ASEAN Woman Entrepreneur Award at the ASEAN Women’s Conference in 2018 as well as the Inspiring Filipino Entrepreneurs Award given by President Rodrigo R. Duterte. She is one of the leading mentors to local micro-entrepreneurs under the “Go Negosyo” program of the Department of Trade and Industry.
