I REMEMBER in February 2022, I visited Barangay Dadiangas South in General Santos City and engaged Barangay Captain Rock Eliseo D. Garay in an animated conversation. I vividly recalled him passionately articulating his vision for the development of the beachfront behind the barangay hall. He talked about food stalls where people could congregate while enjoying the seashore.
That was then.
I left General Santos City and moved back to my birth city, Tagbilaran, in late July 2022. Having come from an island-province, yes, Bohol, together with its capital city, both popularly known for their beachfront restos and entertainment, I have always desired a similar experience in General Santos City – a space by the beach, offering excellent music, delightful food, a soulful ambience, and most importantly, not too far from the center of the city. Southbay has all the elements of the experience I had in mind.
What’s with Southbay anyway?
Southbay Food Park officially began in July 2022 – an initiative of Barangay Dadiangas South, serving as a livelihood and tourism project for local micro and small entrepreneurs. When it was launched, Southbay hosted around ninety clusters of tent stalls operated by various small businesses. It thrived as a seaside food hub where visitors enjoyed the beachfront and open-air community setting. With wear and tear, though, the tents aged and deteriorated, prompting the need for a more durable and organized redevelopment.
In a recent talk, I learned that Punong Barangay Rock Garay coined “Southbay” in July 2022, to capture the southern coastal identity of Barangay Dadiangas South, a place that blends livelihood, leisure, and community spirit. Garay said the message he wants to communicate is: “South Bay nata bai, diri sa ‘DuBay’ (Duol Baybay),” meaning “Let’s explore Southbay, by the shore.” He added, “The name Southbay carries both cultural roots and creative wordplay: It’s derived from the Cebuano phrase duol baybay (near the shore), symbolizing the barangay’s coastal character and its people’s sense of unity and progress.”
In September 2024, after the decline of the tent phase, seven pioneering entrepreneurs chose to remain and continue operations. With the barangay’s design and initiative, they built non-permanent modular steel-frame stalls with roof deck and retractable ceilings — a design that balanced durability, functionality, and aesthetic appeal. The structures are custom-designed by the barangay for safe and adaptable use, consistent with the coastal environment and the vision of a tourism-oriented MSME hub.
Fast forward to the present, and I’m totally awed by the transformation of the beachfront with the array of restos, the blinking lights, the different music genres, good food – General Santos City really offers delicious food, hands down, the glistening sea at night, and most of all, the breeze that just blows your thoughts away.
Asked to comment about the controversy plaguing Southbay, Garay explained, “Southbay began as rows of humble tents, built by ordinary people with extraordinary perseverance. The name itself was derived from our dialect ‘DuBay,’ meaning duol baybay or near the shore.” However, “Today, those same small entrepreneurs stand at the center of political and legal challenges meant to test our unity. But we will not be shaken. These struggles are only temporary, and in the end, Barangay Dadiangas South and the Southbay stakeholders will be triumphant because what we fight for is not power, but progress, fairness, and the future of our MSMEs,” Garay declared.
Meanwhile, General Santos City Kagawad Atty. Franklin Gacal stressed, “The Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) performs a quasi-judicial function when it hears the case of Punong Barangay Rock Garay relative to the Southbay complaint filed by the city government. I can assure both parties that the BRC will perform its function with the cold neutrality of an impartial judge.”
General Santos City Vice Mayor Atty. Jose Edmar J. Yumang, however, asserted that the “Nullification of contracts is within the sphere of the judiciary not in the local legislative by passing a mere resolution.” He stated further, “The rule of law prevails over the whims and caprices of the majority city councilors.”
There you go, wherever this unfortunate controversy leads, I can only hope that the workers whose lives have become better because they are productive, the earning freelance musicians and performers whose gigs entertain the diners including myself, the entrepreneurs who invested resources, sweat, and tears to see their dreams come to life, and the residents of General Santos City would not become the losers in the end.
In the meantime, I’ll enjoy Southbay while I’m in the city.
***
Woman Talk with Belinda Sales is taking a wellness break. Email me at belindabelsales@gmail.com for your thoughts. Follow us on X at @ShilohRuthie./PN
