Mintal to become new tourist attraction with heritage declaration

Barangay Mintal will soon become Davao City’s newest tourist attraction with the declaration of the barangay as a Japanese heritage site.

“The declaration of Mintal as a Japanese heritage site will encourage the residents to look at possible economic activities which they can do to attract Japanese and other tourists,” Davao City Investment Promotion Center chief Roberto Teo said.

The stakeholders and other agencies and offices agreed to finally pass for the City Council’s approval the resolution declaring barangay Mintal as a Japanese Heritage Site. This after the Committee on International Relations headed by councilor Rachel Zozobrado conducted its third and final committee hearing on the proposed resolution yesterday.

Teo said it is only fitting to declare the area as a Japanese Heritage Site considering that it has indeed been identified by researchers as an area where the Japanese settled from 1919 to 1945. The location, he said, is very important because Japanese tourists would definitely want to pay homage and visit the sites previously occupied by their ascendants.

Zozobrado, who also hails from Mintal, said the barangay has always been known as Little Tokyo. She said the passage of the resolution declaring Mintal as a Japanese heritage site is long overdue since it would have already attracted Japanese tourists last August.

Philippine Nikkei Jinkai Incorporated Chairman Bernardo Fernandez said all of Mintal before was occupied and owned by the Japanese. Historically, he said, the entire Mintal area is really a Japanese community.

Barangay Captain Ramon Bargamento has already identified a site where the planned Japanese garden would be built, the small plaza beside the Mintal Gym. However, Historical Society Chair Enrica Babao said the place is too small and suggested that they scout for bigger areas in the area since there are lots of government institutions in the area like the Philippine Coconut Authority and the Bureau of Plant Industry.

The committee agreed to look into other areas where the suggested Japanese garden will be located as a symbol of Japan’s heritage.