I do have a bit of experence regards living in Dumaguete.......I was married in Dgte in 1984 and have been coming here every year since........Been permanently here for 10 years.......I'm afraid I've had enough......I use to live in Lipayo Dauin 12 km south of the city along side of the resorts in the bay.
Moved into the city for work and my partner's work for the last 3 years.....The city has a population of about 120,000 residents and swells to over 400,000 during the day as people come in from the provinces for work and school, hence why the city is packed with pedicabs.
Yes it use to be the "City of Gentle People by the bay" not anymore.......as locals come here from other islands to settle......The crime rate here is out of control as well as the drug problem.....An 75 year old Australian was shot dead in Valencia 2 days ago and one of the cities Attorney's was also killed a few weeks ago. This is not the
1st time Atty's have been murdered its 4 in the least 2 years.....one was murdered by his carpenter his body was found in the concrete septic tank.....All for money....There is 2 gangs in the city the Crips and the Bloods always at each others throats and have ties with the Siliman University students......The infill structure of the City has improved over the years but struggles to keep pace with the growth....Now that the old mayor Pedices has gone, he didn't want growth or change.
The young Vice Mayor is a personal friend and one of my Att's and part of my corporation is trying to encourage investment and growth....Its the corruption in all levels of Gov't that's the problem and always will be he states.....
Don't get me wrong we have made good money here....But its time to slow done and enjoy the Visaya's.....Its time to hit the bigger city of Cebu....I will keep one appartment in Dgte and my residence will be in the hills of cebu looking over the city,Mactan and Bohol island......We both need some of the nicer things in life now such as good restuarants, mall shopping and imported food products as Cebu offers.
All in all I would not live in any other country but my beloved Philippines and its wonderful people.....This just my insight to Dumaguete which is just like any other city once you look under the surface and work and live in this city....
Koala
