title: God of War: Ascension

text: At the 2012 Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), Game Director Todd Papy, Lead Game Designer Mark Simon, Principal Character Artist Patrick Murphy, and writer of the "God of War" series Marianne Krawczyk, hosted the first "God of War" panel, discussing the origins of "Ascension", and provided an overview of the evolution of Kratos. The Fury Megaera was revealed, and Mark Simon discussed the new combat system. Papy said he had considered using the goddess Artemis as a playable female character, which would have offered the player alternative combat options. Artemis would have been depicted as half-human and half-feline, with the head and torso of a woman and the legs of a lioness. Artemis was ultimately cut from the game, but Papy said he would like to explore the possibility of using other gods in the future.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: In the developmental transition from "God of War III" to "Ascension", one of the graphics engineers, Cedric Perthuis, noted that the limits of the "God of War III" engine restricted artist creativity, so they "tried to remove or push those limits as far as possible without losing any performance." For example, the number of UV sets was increased to three per mesh. For a complex character model like Kratos, "independent textures are needed for body parts unique to him, each wrapping around the head, torso and limbs—all of which form an editable 'UV set' when laid out flat." Allowing more UV sets also made it possible to have a more natural look to the environment. "Ascension" was not as dramatic an advance in graphics over its predecessor as "God of War III" had been: "From a graphics 'technical' perspective, to a large degree "God of War: Ascension" was more refinement on the graphics front" said another graphics engineer, Ben Diamand, who focused on optimization during "Ascension"s development. The development team also added dynamic lighting, which allowed for development of the Life Cycle gameplay mechanic. Particle effects were also greatly improved from "God of War III": "the idea was to give artists more control to achieve better results with less particles" said Perthuis.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: Terrence C. Carson, Linda Hunt, Corey Burton, Gideon Emery, Steven Blum, and Kevin Sorbo reprised their roles as Kratos, the narrator, Zeus, Poseidon, Ares, and Hercules, respectively. Jennifer Hale, who voiced two characters in the , voiced the Fury Alecto and Kratos' wife, Lysandra, who was previously voiced by Gwendoline Yeo. Debi Mae West, Adrienne Barbeau, and Crispin Freeman, who had each done voice work on previous installments, voiced the characters Tisiphone, Aletheia, and the King of Sparta. Troy Baker voiced the oath keeper Orkos and is the announcer in the multiplayer mode. Series veteran Fred Tatasciore assumed the role of Hades, who was previously voiced by Clancy Brown. Susan Blakeslee reprised her role as the Village Oracle, who makes a cameo appearance as an illusion created by Tisiphone. Unlike previous games in which motion capture and voice recording were done separately, "Ascension" used "voice-over motion capture"; voice recording and motion capture were done at the same time, which allowed the voice actors to act out their characters' scenes together. The voice-over motion capture was done at House of Moves in Culver City, California.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: A global multiplayer beta was announced at Gamescom 2012. The beta included features that had not been previously revealed. Players who participated in the "Rise of the Warrior" social challenge on GodofWar.com received early access to the beta in December 2012. Players from SCE Europe also received an opportunity to access the beta early. The beta became available for PlayStation Plus subscribers on January 8, 2013. On January 19, Santa Monica allowed all PlayStation Network users in North and South America access to the beta via a redeemable voucher. The beta test ended at midnight Pacific time on January 21. In the beta, players could choose to align themselves with Ares or Zeus. It featured the eight-player Desert of Lost Souls map and the four-player Forum of Hercules map. The beta included the Desert of Lost Souls map in the modes Team Favor of the Gods and Capture the Flag, and the Forum of Hercules map in the mode Favor of the Gods, renamed Match of Champions in final release. All participants of the beta received the Champion's Armor and Blade for their multiplayer character when the game launched.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: According to Santa Monica's senior producer Whitney Wade and director of internal development Chacko Sonny, the beta made the team look at the game as an "evolving service". The beta allowed the developers to make sure that the game design would meet with the approval of existing fans of the series, and that the system could cope with a high volume of players. Wade and Sonny said the testing went as expected, "revealing successive layers of issues that we would address, deploy fixes for, and then monitor in a live environment." The most important change from the beta, they said, was their planning in how to support the game post-launch. The team designed a process that allowed them to "quickly iterate on fixes, deploy them through infrastructure (testing, certification, patching), and coordinate with internal technology partners within Sony." They also developed a system to allow them to monitor, log, and interpret any changes added, and the beta test gave insight on how to prioritize key features.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: At E3 2012, a single-player demo was shown, featuring new gameplay mechanics and combat systems. The demo revealed a redesigned quick time event mini-game, which replaced some button prompts with a new, prompt-less, free-form system. It featured the World Weapons mechanic and Kratos was shown to be capable of swinging opponents through the air while simultaneously attacking. Other new features included the Fire of Ares magic and the "Life Cycle" mechanic. Several new enemies, such as the juggernaut and the sea beast Charybdis, were also featured, though the latter was cut from the final game. The E3 2012 single-player demo was included with early copies of the "Director's Cut" Blu-ray edition and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack versions of the film, "Total Recall", which were released on December 18, 2012. On February 26, 2013, a new single-player demo titled the Prison of the Damned was released on the PlayStation Store to download. Participants of the "Rise of the Warrior" social challenge who were on the Spartan team received access to the demo on February 20. The demo comprises the first 30-minutes of the single-player mode.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: "God of War: Ascension" was released in North America on March 12, 2013, in mainland Europe and PAL regions on March 13, in Australia and New Zealand on March 14, and in the UK and Ireland on March 15. In the US, it sold 570,000 units in the first month of its release not including bundled sales, making it the fourth-best-selling game of March 2013. The game's sales were significantly lower than "God of War III"s first month sales, which were 1.1 million units. Ultimately, the game shipped over 3 million units worldwide and grossed over US$100 million in revenue. On October 15, 2013, "God of War: Ascension" was released as a digital download on the PlayStation Store in North America. The digital version was released in Europe and Australia on October 23, and in Japan and Asia on October 31. On September 24, 2014, "God of War: Ascension" became available to play from Sony's game streaming service PlayStation Now.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: "God of War: Ascension"s marketing campaign initially focused on its multiplayer feature. Between October 22, 2012, and the day of the game's release, there were four multiplayer trailers that featured each of the gods that players can align to, showcasing some of the abilities that players receive from them. On December 12, 2012, a multiplayer trailer titled "Evil Ways" was released, featuring Polyphemus. The first single-player trailer since the initial one in April 2012 came on January 19, 2013. A live action trailer titled "From Ashes" featuring a remix of Hanging On by Ellie Goulding was played during Super Bowl XLVII, which was followed by the last single-player trailer on February 26.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: On June 4, 2012, Santa Monica Studio announced the release of "God of War: Ascension – Collector's Edition", which was available for a limited time in North America. The package included a statue of Kratos, a premium SteelBook game case, and exclusive downloadable content (DLC) available via the PlayStation Network (PSN). The exclusive DLC included the official game soundtrack, a PS3 dynamic XrossMediaBar (XMB) theme, a PSN avatar pack, 48 hours of double XP for multiplayer, and a Season Pass to unlock all future DLC weapons and armor at no extra cost. On August 30, 2012, Santa Monica announced the release of the "Collector's Edition" for European territories. The "God of War: Ascension – Special Edition" was also announced for release in European territories and was available for the same price as the standard edition. It included the premium SteelBook game case and the DLC that was available in the "Collector's Edition", although not the Season Pass. The "God of War: Ascension Legacy Bundle", which included "Ascension", "God of War Saga", a one-month subscription to PlayStation Plus, and a 500 GB garnet red PS3, was available for a limited time. Similarly, the UK received an exclusive PS3 bundle, which included a white 500 GB PS3, the "God of War: Ascension – Special Edition", and a special "God of War: Ascension" DualShock 3 controller, which was released separately in Australia.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: Pre-orders for the "Collector's Edition" commenced on June 4, 2012, in North America. Participating retailers offered the "Mythological Heroes Multiplayer DLC Pack" as a bonus for pre-ordering the standard or "Collector's Edition" of the game. The DLC pack included the armors of Achilles, Odysseus, Orion, and Perseus. Along with the DLC pack, GameStop offered an exclusive pre-order bonus—the armor and spear of King Leonidas, as depicted by Gerard Butler in the 2007 film "300", for use in multiplayer mode, and a double-sided "God of War: Ascension" poster measuring . For a limited time, all copies of "God of War: Ascension" purchased from Best Buy included the multiplayer weapon Mjölnir (the Hammer of Thor), inspired by the television series "Vikings", as DLC. Walmart offered the Blade of Judgment multiplayer weapon as an exclusive pre-order bonus. All copies of "God of War: Ascension" included early access to the demo of Naughty Dog's video game "The Last of Us". In North America, all copies included a voucher to download the characters Zeus and Isaac Clarke for "PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale".


title: God of War: Ascension

text: "Rise of the Warrior" was a graphic novel by Marianne Krawczyk with art by Christopher Shy. Only available on GodofWar.com, it was a prequel story that tied into "Ascension"s single-player and multiplayer modes, and had 20 chapters that were released from October 2012 to March 2013. It also featured a social experience during that same time period. For the social experience, players were aligned with either the Spartans or the Trojans and competed via social challenges to earn points, such as answering questions and solving riddles for each chapter. In the first challenge, the teams competed to earn their army a week of exclusive, early access to the multiplayer beta test that began on December 12, and a one-month subscription to PlayStation Plus, which was won by the Spartans; the Trojans received access on December 17. The Spartans also won the next team challenge and received early access to the Prison of the Damned single-player demo on February 20, 2013. Players could also earn early, in-game unlocks for the final game's multiplayer mode, including exclusive weapons and armor for all players who attained the rank of Champion of the Gods.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: The story followed an unnamed warrior who became the player's character in the multiplayer mode. The warrior was a native of Kirra whose father was killed by a cruel general who poisoned the water supply of the village, killing many people. Before dying, the warrior's father beckoned him to honor the gods and swear to never let harm come to their family. The warrior swore his father's oath and was met by a cloaked figure, The Giver, who guided him and followed him throughout his journey. Soon after, the warrior called upon Ares to save his people from the poisonous water; the god destroyed the aqueduct and water wheel that supplied water to the village. The warrior then encountered the surviving soldiers who had been under his father's command. One soldier told the warrior that swords alone could not defeat the general. The warrior and his men traveled to the land of Aeaea and recruited the witch Circe, who seemingly also sought revenge against the general. Circe granted the soldiers magical weapons to aid them on their journey, and suggested that they see the Oracle of Delphi to discover whether the general had any weaknesses. During this time, the warrior vowed loyalty to Poseidon and to protect his men.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: After traveling through Delphi, the warrior obtained the venomous blood of a cerberus. Eventually, both Circe and the warrior encountered the general, who was revealed to be the warrior's uncle. The general revealed that he killed the warrior's father because he refused to join the general. Circe was then revealed to be the general's lover who had aided the warrior only so he would reach the general, who planned to offer the warrior a chance to serve him in his conquests. The warrior refused, and Circe offered him with a choice; to serve the general and his men would be spared from Circe's wrath, or to kill the general and his men shall die. The Giver, who followed the two, reminded the warrior that if he were to kill the general, who was a member of his family, the oath he made to his father would be broken, yet if he killed Circe, his men would perish and the oath he made to protect his men would be broken. The warrior declared that he would not slay Circe and defended the lives of his men. However, he tricked the general into drinking from a cup he had secretly filled with the cerberus's blood, which killed the general. Circe was aghast at the warrior's vengeful act and retreated. Because the warrior killed his own uncle, the oath he made to his father was broken. The Giver revealed himself to be Orkos, the oath keeper of the Furies and the warrior was imprisoned by the Furies in the Prison of the Damned.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: As well as the downloadable content (DLC) included in the "Collector's Edition", the pre-order bonuses, and DLC from "Rise of the Warrior", the developers released several multiplayer DLC packs after the game's release. All multiplayer maps that were released post-launch were free, and players who obtained the Season Pass from the "Collector's Edition" received all DLC weapons and armors at no additional cost. DLC weapons and armors could be purchased separately or in bundles. Other DLC, such as XP boosters, were available, but these were not covered by the Season Pass. On May 7, 2013, the first set of DLC armors and weapons, including the "Armors of Anarchy" and the "Blades of Darkness", were released for purchase together with the free Chimeran Armor. Several other DLC packs, such as the "Primordials Pack", the "Champions Pack", the "Marks of the Gods Pack", and the "Legendary Spears Pack", were released.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: In June 2013, Santa Monica announced the "Community Cape Design Contest", in which the "God of War" community could create and submit original cape designs. The winner's design was released as DLC. For a limited time the following month, Sony allowed players to trial all available DLC weapons. Some of the last sets of DLC released included co-op weapons, the "Mantles of the Gods Pack", several gauntlets, and the "Fury Capes Pack". On October 11, 2013, Santa Monica announced that no further DLC maps, weapons, armors, or marks would be produced, but multiplayer gaming would still be supported with patch updates. All DLC items received special pricing options for the release of the digital version of "God of War: Ascension". To celebrate the one year anniversary of the game's release, from March 25 through April 2, all DLC armor and weapons were available to download for free, XP boosters were discounted by 50%, and the developers released a Santa Monica Studio cape and a "Marked One" mark, allowing player's warriors to have Kratos' red tattoo when equipped.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: The first maps were released via patch 1.06, called the "Hunter" update, on May 23, 2013. The "Tower of Delphi" and a modified version of the "Coliseum of Persia", which enabled the Trial of the Gods mode on that map, were included in this update. Because of technical difficulties experienced by some players who downloaded the patch, it was retracted and re-released via update 1.07 on June 3. Players who lost all online progress due to 1.06 received two 48-hour voucher codes granting five times the amount of XP earned, the Season Pass, 50 weapon and armor shards, and a special voucher code for the "Ascension" feature that ascended these players to "Hero", giving them immediate access to the Godly armor and weapons. The second set of maps were released via update 1.09 on July 11. This update included four maps for the Bout of Honor mode—"Canyons of Kirra", "Chamber of the Flame", "Landing at Delos", and "Streets of Sparta"—and a four-player map, "The Whirlpool of Alecto". On August 1, update 1.10 was released and added Trial of the Gods to the "Labyrinth of Daedalus" map. The last multiplayer map, the eight-player "Furnace of Archimedes", was released via update 1.11 on August 27.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: "God of War: Ascension (Original Soundtrack)" was composed by Tyler Bates and was released on iTunes on March 5, 2013 by SCE and La-La Land Records. It was included as DLC in the "God of War: Ascension – Collector's Edition" and "Special Edition". On October 15, the soundtrack was made available for free on PSN for a limited time. A notable feature of "Ascension"s soundtrack at the time was that it was scored by only one composer; all the previous games had multiple composers. Tyler Bates previously scored the similarly themed film "300" and game "Rise of the Argonauts". Bates said "My goal was to create a sound that supported the timeless dark age of "God of War", while expanding the parameters of the 'Sword and Sandals' genre." Although the game's story is linear, he approached the project as if he were scoring a novel as opposed to a film. Bates did not play any of the previous games and chose not to in order to take the score "to new places without being overtly aware of the great music that is emblematic" of the prior installments. The soundtrack was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, and features solo vocal work from Rafe Pearlman and Ciscandra Nostalghia.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: Throughout the score, Bates uses a combination of techniques "to increase the drama of the game" said Emily McMillan of Game Music Online, who gave the album a 4 out of 5 stars. She said one of Bates's signature techniques is "an intense and simultaneous crescendo and glissando." All the themes take place on a harmonic minor scale. On the track, "Warriors' Truth", Bates used Gerard Marino's main "God of War" theme and "twists it for the prequel setting", "taking the harmonic ascending scale and reverting it to a downwards pattern with a harsh choir/brass combination." The track "Visions of Ruin" features the cimbalom, which is rarely used in video game soundtracks. She said overall "The music is powerful, rich, and pulsing", though listening to the whole album can seem repetitive.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: "God of War: Ascension" received "generally favorable reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic. Critics praised the fundamental gameplay and spectacle, but were critical of the lack of new ideas and gave a mixed response to the additional multiplayer mode. Alex Simmons of IGN said the redesigned combat system adds a source of depth: "Learning how to use each power effectively ... provides a strategic lifeline when there's no energy re-gen chest nearby". Although he initially found the World Weapons useful, he felt that they became unnecessary after upgrading the Blades of Chaos. Simmons felt the magic system was a "positive step"; since magic attacks are unlocked at a later time, players cannot rely on them as much as they may have done in previous installments, which encourages players "to think wisely about where to allocate experience points rather than being the ultimate badass from the outset".


title: God of War: Ascension

text: Combat and the new gameplay mechanics were well-received, with Dale North of Destructoid saying ""God of War" has never looked or played better than this", and Xav de Matos of Joystiq commenting that the combat is simpler than in "God of War III", and rarely required much adjustment. Opinions on difficulty varied; Simmons felt that most of the gameplay was balanced, and that "Ascension" "is probably the easiest" in the series, but both he and Hollander Cooper of GamesRadar commented that some areas, such as the Trials of Archimedes, were too difficult. Simmons felt that in some sections, the many enemies made dying feel "cheap and frustrating", and in Cooper's opinion, some points in the game "[test] your patience, rather than your skills—including one [the Trials] that's easily the most difficult section in any "God of War" game to date, for all the wrong reasons".


title: God of War: Ascension

text: Both Simmons and Matos criticized the story; Simmons felt that although the narrative is "meticulously delivered", it "felt a bit incidental", and said that in comparison to Zeus and Ares, "the Furies don't quite cut it". Matos was critical of the plot framing and the narrative structure as "just too chaotic"; he argued that "the narrative fabric woven throughout the franchise has begun to split", and "Ascension" does little to enhance its characters "in any meaningful way". He did praise the game for providing the "distinct "God of War" flair" known to the series.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: Cooper praised the enhanced graphics engine as "not only the best the franchise has seen, but some of the most impressive on the PlayStation 3", and was impressed by Kratos' foes. North agreed, saying "there's a shine and polish that runs throughout the game that makes it a perfect send-off for the PS3", noting its improved textures, animations, and lighting. The review from "Edge" magazine also positively reviewed the graphics, but had some frustrations with the visual approach, such as some camera angles.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: Matos was broadly critical of the game's multiplayer mode, though he singled out some elements, such as the maps, as well-designed. He disliked the connection to single-player mode, calling it "a weird narrative tie-in", and was concerned that although the gameplay translates well into the multiplayer element, "the entire experience may be too chaotic to enrapture a large audience ... it doesn't feel deep enough to command much more than a furiously dedicated fan following". Simmons was more positive, saying that the multiplayer mode is "a genuinely fresh addition ... that successfully carries over many of the hallmarks of the much-loved single-player [game]". He singled out Team Favor of the Gods as his favorite mode, but did not feel that the combat offered enough depth to make multiplayer "a truly engaging experience", describing it instead as "a curiosity that provides a few hours of enjoyment rather than being an essential addition". The review from "Edge" magazine described multiplayer mode as "chaotic at first", with overwhelming options, but said that it becomes easier as players learn the levels. The "Edge" review identified the fixed camera system as an asset because "you can always see exactly what's going on and fight your opponents instead of the viewpoint", and also praised the color-coding system, which "effectively lets you know when you have an opening and when to run".


title: God of War: Ascension

text: Some reviewers disliked the title of one of the game's trophies, "Bros before Hos", which is received after graphically face-stomping a female villain. In response to the criticisms of misogyny, Santa Monica released a patch changing the name of the trophy to "Bros before Foes".


title: God of War: Ascension

text: Unlike previous installments, "God of War: Ascension" won no awards, but it was nominated in several Best of E3 2012 categories by various media outlets. These nominations included "Best Action/Adventure" and "Best Multiplayer" from Game Rant, "Best PS3 Game" and "Best Action/Adventure Game" from G4, "Best PlayStation 3 Game" from Destructoid, and "Best PS3 Game" and "Best Action Game" from IGN. The game was a nominee for "Best Visual Design" at the 2013 Golden Joystick Awards. At the 2014 Writers Guild of America Videogame Awards, it was a nominee for "Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing" and during the 2014 D.I.C.E. Summit, it was a nominee for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences award for "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design".


title: Davao City

text: Davao City, officially the City of Davao (; ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of land area. It is the third-most populous city in the Philippines after Quezon City and Manila, and the most populous in Mindanao. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1,776,949 people.


title: Davao City

text: It is geographically situated in the province of Davao del Sur and grouped under the province by the Philippine Statistics Authority, but the city is governed and administered independently from it. The city is divided into three congressional districts, which are subdivided into 11 administrative districts with a total of 182 barangays.


title: Davao City

text: Davao City is the center of Metro Davao, the second most populous metropolitan area in the Philippines. The city serves as the main trade, commerce, and industry hub of Mindanao, and the regional center of Davao Region. Davao is home to Mount Apo, the highest mountain in the Philippines. The city is also nicknamed the "Durian Capital of the Philippines".


title: Davao City

text: The region's name is derived from its Bagobo origins. The Bagobos were indigenous to the Philippines. The word "davao" came from the phonetic blending of three Bagobo subgroups' names for the Davao River, a major waterway emptying into the Davao Gulf near the city. The aboriginal Obos, who inhabit the hinterlands of the region, called the river "Davah" (with a gentle vowel ending, although later pronunciation is with a hard "v" or "b"); the Clatta (or Giangan/Diangan) called it "Dawaw", and the Tagabawas called it "Dabo". To the Obos, "davah" also means "a place beyond the high grounds" (alluding to settlements at the mouth of the river surrounded by high, rolling hills).


title: Davao City

text: The area of what is now Davao City was once a lush forest inhabited by Lumadic peoples such as the Bagobos and Matigsalugs, alongside other ethnic groups such as the Aeta, Maguindanaon and the Tausug. Davao River was then called Tagloc River by the Bagobos, Maguindanaons and Tausugs who then inhabited a settlement near the mouth of the river to the sea around what is now Bolton Riverside due immediately southwest of the city plaza. In 1543, Spanish explorers on sailing ships led by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos deliberately avoided the area around Davao Gulf, then called Gulf of Tagloc, due to the danger posed by fleets of Moro warships operating in the area while surveying the southeastern coast of Mindanao for possible colonization, and as a result the Davao Gulf area remained virtually untouched by European explorers for the next three centuries.


title: Davao City

text: A Maguindanaon Datu under the name Datu Bago was rewarded the territory of the surroundings of Davao Gulf by the Sultan of Maguindanao Sultanate for joining the campaign against the Spanish in the late 1700s. From his ancestral home in Maguindanao, he moved to the area in 1800 and, having convinced Bagobos and other native groups in the area to his side, conquered the entire Davao Gulf area. Having consolidated his position, he founded the fortress of "Pinagurasan" in what is now the site of Bangkerohan Public Market in 1830 which served as his capital. From being a fortification and base of operations from which Datu Bago could gather and rally his forces, the settlement of Pinagurasan eventually grew into a small city extending from present-day Generoso Bridge in Bangkerohan to Quezon Boulevard more than a kilometer down south, as Maguindanaons and Bagobos alike among other nearby tribes in the area flocked into the settlement, eventually becoming the main trade entrepot in the Davao Gulf area. With his immense overlordship of the Davao Gulf, Datu Bago was eventually crowned Sultan by his subjects at his capital Pinagurasan in 1843, effectively making his realm virtually independent from the Sultanate of Maguindanao and is now itself a Sultanate that lords over the Davao Gulf, now in equal standing with the Mindanaon Muslim kingdoms of Maguindanao and Sulu.


title: Davao City

text: Although the Spaniards began to explore the Davao Gulf area as early as the 16th century, Spanish influence was negligible in the Davao region until 1842, when the Spanish Governor General of the Philippines Narciso Clavería ordered the colonization of the Davao Gulf region, including what is now Davao City, for the Spanish Crown. This came after the loss of their colonies in the Americas from 1820s to 1830s which gravely reduced their sources of revenue to the point that the royal government in Madrid could no longer continue to properly provide financial support to what remained of its worldwide colonies. Thus, it became more urgent for local officials in the colonies, including the Philippines, to find ways and means of expanding the revenues in running the colonies, primarily in terms of tribute extracted from the natives. It meant that for the first time, the Spanish colonial government in the Philippines was compelled to embark on a full-scale conquest of Mindanao in the hopes of increasing its coffers.


title: Davao City

text: Davao Gulf seemed to be a tempting target among Spanish military circles based in Manila for its thriving maritime trade taking place there. Their initial forays began with their incursion on the village of Sigaboy in 1842, from which the local Spanish officials who recently landed there immediately demanded heavy tribute on the natives who then asked for Datu Bago's help in expelling the Spaniards, which he responded swiftly by sending a combined naval and land force in the area to defeat and drive out the Spanish force there. The Spanish, whom they saw Datu Bago as a mere pirate and brigand, didn't take the threat seriously for years despite the numerous defeats they have suffered under his hands until the burning of the Spanish trading vessel "San Rufo", which carried a letter of friendship from Sultan Iskandar Qudaratullah Muhammad Zamal al-Azam of Maguindanao to Governor General Claveria, and its massacre of all its crew by seaborne corsairs under orders from Datu Bago himself in 1846. Incensed with the incident, the Spanish secured the consent from the Sultan of Maguindanao who finally disowned the Moros of the Davao Gulf by using the incident as pretext for justification to conquer the area, thus official Spanish colonization of Davao Gulf finally began in earnest in April 1848 when an expedition of 70 men and women led by José Cruz de Uyanguren of Vergara, Spain, landed on the estuary of the Davao River the same month, intent on conquering Pinagurasan, the capital of Datu Bago's domain, in the hopes of permanently ending the menace posed on Spanish vessels by Moro raiders in the Davao Gulf.


title: Davao City

text: Being the strongest chieftain in the region, Datu Bago imposed heavy tribute on the Mandaya tribes nearby, therefore also making him the most loathed chieftain in the region. Cruz de Uyanguren has orders from the higher authorities in Manila to colonize the Davao Gulf region, which included the Bagobo settlement on the northern riverbank; in returned, he asked for the position of the governor of the conquered area and granted the monopoly of its commerce for ten years. At this juncture, a Mandaya chieftain named Datu Daupan, who then ruled Samal Island, came to him, seeking for an alliance against Datu Bago. The two chieftains were archrivals, and Cruz de Uyanguren took advantage of it, initiating an alliance between Spain and the Mandayas of Samal Island. Intent on taking the settlement for Spain, he and his men accordingly assaulted it, but the Bagobo natives fiercely resisted the attacks, which resulted in his Samal Mandaya allies to retreat and not fight again. Thus, a three-month long inconclusive battle for the possession of the settlement ensued which was only decided when an infantry company which sailed its way by warships from Zamboanga came in as reinforcements, thus ensuring the takeover of the settlement and its surroundings by the Spaniards while the defeated Bagobos fled further inland while Datu Bago and his followers fled north to Hijo where he would die two years later.


title: Davao City

text: After Cruz de Oyanguren defeated Bago and conquered Pinagurasan, he founded the town of "Nueva Vergara", the future Davao, in the mangrove swamps of what is now Bolton Riverside on June 29, 1848, in honor of his home in Spain and becoming its first governor. Pinagurasan was then incorporated into the new town. Almost two years later on February 29, 1850, the province of "" was established via a royal decree, with the newly founded town as the capital, once again to honor his homeland in Spain. When he was the governor of the province, however, his plans of fostering a positive economic sway on the region backfired, which resulted in his eventual replacement under orders of the colonial government.


title: Davao City

text: The province of Nueva Guipuzcoa was dissolved on July 30, 1860, as it became the Politico-Military Commandery of Davao. By the clamor of its natives, a petition was given to the Spanish government to eventually rename Nueva Vergara into Davao, since they have called the town as the latter long from the time of its founding. It was eventually done in year 1867, and the town Nueva Vergara was officially given its present name Davao.


title: Davao City

text: The Spanish control of the town was unstable at best, as its Lumad and Moro natives routinely resisted the attempts of the Spanish authorities to forcibly resettle them and convert them into Christians. Despite all these, however, such were all done in the goal of making the governance of the area easier, dividing the Christians both settlers and native converts and the Muslim Moros into several religion-based communities within the town.


title: Davao City

text: As the Philippine Revolution, having been fought for two years, neared its end in 1898, the expected departure of the Spanish authorities in Davao became apparent—although they took no part in the war at all, for there were no revolutionary figures in the vicinity save a negligible pro-Filipino separatist rebel movement in the town of Santa Cruz in the south. When the war finally ended, as the Spanish authorities finally left the town, two Davaoeño locals by the names of Pedro Layog and Jose M. Lerma represented the town and the region at the Malolos Congress of 1898, therefore indicating Davao as a part of the nascent First Philippine Republic.


title: Davao City

text: The period of Filipino revolutionary control of Davao did not last long, however, as the Americans landed at the town later the same year. There was no record of locals offering any sort of resistance to the Americans.


title: Davao City

text: As the Americans began their administration of the town in 1900, economic opportunities quickly arose as huge swathes of its areas, mainly lush forests and fertile grasslands, were declared open for agricultural investment. A result of this, foreign businessmen especially Japanese entrepreneurs started settling the region, staking their claims on the vast lands of Davao and turned them into huge plantations of coconut and banana products. In just a short period, Davao changed from a small and sparsely-inhabited town into a bustling economic center serving mainly the Davao Gulf region, heavily populated alongside natives by tens of thousands of settlers and economic migrants from Luzon, Visayas and Japan. All of this led the Port of Davao to be established and opened the same year, in order to facilitate the international export of agricultural products from Davao.


title: Davao City

text: Davao was incorporated as a part of Moro Province from 1903 to 1914. When the province was dissolved in 1914, it led to the establishment of Davao Province, with Davao town as its provincial capital. What is now the city's Legislative Council Building served as the provincial capitol. It was built in 1926, the same year the Davao Municipal Hall, now the City Hall, was constructed.


title: Davao City

text: Because of the rapidly increasing progress of the town, on March 16, 1936, congressman Romualdo Quimpo from Davao filed "Bill 609" (passed as "Commonwealth Act 51"), creating the City of Davao from the town of Davao and the municipal district of Guianga. The bill called for the appointment of local officials by the president. By that time, the new city was already mostly populated with Japanese businessmen and settlers who then became its locals. Davao was inaugurated as a charter city on October 16, 1936, by President Manuel L. Quezon; the charter came into effect on March 1, 1937. It was one of the first two towns in Mindanao to be converted into a city, the other being Zamboanga.


title: Davao City

text: On December 8, 1941, Japanese planes bombed the harbor, and from December 20 they landed forces and began an occupation of the city which lasted to 1945. Davao was among the earliest to be occupied by Japanese forces, and the city was immediately fortified as a bastion of Japanese defense.


title: Davao City

text: The city was subjected to extensive bombing by forces led by Douglas MacArthur before American forces landed in Leyte in October 1944. The Battle of Davao towards the end of World War II was one of the longest and bloodiest battles during the Philippine Liberation, and brought tremendous destruction to the city, setting back the economic and physical strides made before the Japanese occupation.


title: Davao City

text: Davao regained its status as the agricultural and economic hub of Mindanao after the war ended in 1945. Wood products such as plywood and timber, and More agricultural products being produced within the city, such as copra and other varieties of banana, became available for export. Some Japanese locals—80% percent of the city's population prior to the war's end—assimilated with the Filipino population, while others were expelled from the country by the Filipino locals, due to recent enmity.


title: Davao City

text: Davao was peaceful and increasingly progressive in the postwar period, including the 1950s and the mid-1960s. Ethnic tensions were minimal, and there was essentially no presence of secessionists groups in Mindanao.


title: Davao City

text: In 1967, the Province of Davao was divided into three provinces: Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental and Davao del Sur. The city of Davao became part of Davao del Sur; no longer the provincial capital, it became a commercial center of southern Mindanao. This period also saw the first ever election of an indigenous person to the office of Mayor of Davao City, when Elias Lopez, a full-blooded Bagobo, won the mayoral elections of 1967.


title: Davao City

text: Things began to take a turn for the worse late into Ferdinand Marcos' first presidential term, when news about the Jabidah massacre ignited a furor in the Moro community, and ethnic tensions encouraged with the formation of secessionist movements. An economic crisis in late 1969 led to social unrest, and violent crackdowns on protests led to the radicalization of many students throughout the country. With no way to express their grievances about government abuses after the declaration of Martial law in 1972, many of them joined the New People's Army (NPA), bringing the Communist rebellion in the Philippines to Davao and the rest of Mindanao for the first time.


title: Davao City

text: In the midst of this era, Davao became the regional capital of southern Mindanao; with the reorganization, it became the regional capital of the Davao Region (Region XI) and highly urbanized city in the province of Davao del Sur.


title: Davao City

text: Meantime, violence in the city became severe as Mindanao became one of the hotbeds of the NPA insurgency. The NPA, too, had become responsible for numerous abuses. In 1985, locals formed the vigilante group "Alsa Masa" (People's Rise) to counter them.


title: Davao City

text: Most Davao residents, however, remained staunchly against violence. This included the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Davao Antonio L. Mabutas, who was among the first religious leaders to peacefully speak out against the Human rights abuses of the Marcos dictatorship. However, these peaceful citizens lacked the political clout to influence the situation much before 1983.


title: Davao City

text: This only changed after the economic crisis of 1983 and the assassination of Ninoy Aquino later that year, and the murder of prominent Davao City journalist Alex Orcullo at a checkpoint in Barangay Tigatto, Davao City on October 19, 1984. These seminal events prompted prominent city figures like Soledad Duterte to organize a protest group called the "Yellow Friday Movement", which slowly gained support until 1986, when Marcos was finally ousted and forced into exile.


title: Davao City

text: Because the local leaders of the time were closely associated with Marcos, they were removed by the 1986 revolutionary government which took power after Marcos's ouster. President Corazon Aquino then appointed Soledad Duterte's son, Rodrigo Duterte, as temporary Vice Mayor of Davao. Rodrigo Duterte later ran for Mayor of Davao City and won, taking the top city office from 1988 to 1998, from 2001 to 2010, and yet again from 2013 to 2016, after which he became President of the Philippines.


title: Davao City

text: Davao City is approximately southeast of Manila over land, and by sea. The city is located in southeastern Mindanao, on the northwestern shore of Davao Gulf, opposite Samal Island.


title: Davao City

text: Davao City's land, totaling about , is hilly in the west (the Marilog district) and slopes down to the southeastern shore. Mount Apo, the highest peak in the Philippines, is located at the city's southwestern tip. Mount Apo National Park (the mountain and its surrounding vicinity), was inaugurated by President Manuel L. Quezon (in "Proclamation 59" of May 8, 1936) to protect the flora and fauna of the surrounding mountain range.


title: Davao City

text: The Davao River is the city's primary drainage channel. Draining an area of over , the river begins in the town of San Fernando, Bukidnon. The mouth of the river is located at Barangay Bucana at Talomo District.


title: Davao City

text: Davao has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification "Af"), with little seasonal variation in temperature. The areological mechanism of the Intertropical Convergence Zone occurs more often than that of the trade winds and because it experiences rare cyclones the climate is not purely equatorial but subequatorial. Average monthly temperatures are always above , and average monthly rainfall is above . This gives the city a tropical climate, without a true dry season; while there is significant rainfall in winter, the largest rainfall occurs during the summer months (see climate chart, below).


title: Davao City

text: Mount Apo is home to many bird species, 111 of which are endemic to the area. It is also home to one of the world's largest eagles, the critically endangered Philippine eagle, the country's national bird. The Philippine Eagle Foundation is based near the city. Plant species include the orchid "waling-waling", also known as the "Queen of Philippine Flowers" as well as one of the country's national flowers, which are also endemic to the area. Fruits such as mangosteen (known as the "queen of fruits") and durian (known as the "king of fruits"), grow abundantly on Mount Apo.


title: Davao City

text: Despite Davao City's location in the Asian portion of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the city has suffered few earthquakes and most have been minor. Mount Apo, southwest from the city proper, is a dormant volcano.


title: Davao City

text: As of 2020 census, the city has a total population of 1,776,949 people. Metro Davao, with the city as its center, had about 2.77 million inhabitants in 2015, making it the third-most-populous metropolitan area in the Philippines and the most-populous city in Mindanao. In the 1995 census, the city's population reached 1,006,840 inhabitants, becoming the first city in the Philippines outside Metro Manila and the fourth nationwide to exceed one million inhabitants. The city's population increase during the 20th century was due to massive immigration waves coming from other parts of the nation and the trend continues to this day.


title: Davao City

text: Residents of Davao City and the whole corresponding Davao Region are colloquially known as "Davaoeños". Nearly all local Davaoeños are Visayans (the majority are Cebuanos, with the rest being Hiligaynons), while others of different ethnicities collectively categorized as the Lumads make up the remainder of the local population. Other ethnicities are mostly Tagalogs and Ilokanos, descendants of settlers from Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Metro Manila, and Calabarzon. The Moro groups of the city are the Maguindanaons, Maranaos, Iranuns, Tausugs and the Sama-Bajaus. Non-Filipino Asians such as Indonesians, Malaysians, Chinese Filipinos, Koreans, Japanese and Indians have settled and made small communities in Davao City. Non-Asian foreigners such as the Americans and Europeans are also present in the city.


title: Davao City

text: Cebuano is the most widely used language in the city and its satellite cities and towns. English is the medium of instruction in schools and is widely understood by residents, who often use it in varying professional fields. Aside from Cebuano, Chavacano and Hiligaynon are also widely used in addition to languages indigenous to the city, such as the Giangan, the Kalagan, the Tagabawa, the Matigsalug, the Ata Manobo, and the Obo. Other languages spoken in the city include Maguindanao, Maranao, Sama-Bajau, Iranun, Tausug, and Ilokano. A linguistic phenomenon has developed whereby locals have either shifted to Filipino or significantly mix Filipino terms and grammar into their Cebuano speech, because the older generations speak Filipino to their children in home settings, and Cebuano is spoken in everyday settings, making Filipino the secondary lingua franca.


title: Davao City

text: The majority of Davao City's inhabitants are Roman Catholics forming 80% of the population. Other groups, such as the Iglesia ni Cristo, Miracle Crusade, Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4th Watch) and followers of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, form eighteen percent of the city's religious background. Seventh-day Adventists, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Philippine Independent Church and Baptists are the other Christian denominations. The remaining 2% belong to non-Christian faiths, mainly Islam. Some of the other faiths are Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism, animism, Judaism and the non-religious.


title: Davao City

text: The Restorationist Church Kingdom of Jesus Christ had its origins in the city. Apollo Quiboloy, who claims to be the "Appointed Son of God", is the leader of the movement.


title: Davao City

text: The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Davao is the main metropolitan see of the Roman Catholic Church in southern Mindanao. It comprises the city of Davao, the Island Garden City of Samal and the municipality of Talaingod in Davao del Norte; under its jurisdiction are the three suffragan dioceses of Digos, Tagum and Mati (the capital cities of the three Davao provinces). Archbishop Romulo Valles of the Archdiocese of Davao, appointed on February 11, 2012, by Pope Benedict XVI, took office on May 22, 2012, at San Pedro Cathedral. Saint Peter, locally known as "San Pedro", is the patron saint of the city.


title: Davao City

text: Davao is part of the East Asian Growth Area, a regional economic-cooperation initiative in Southeast Asia.


title: Davao City

text: According to the foundation, the city has a projected average annual growth of 2.53 percent over a 15-year period; Davao was the only Philippine city to reach the top 100. As the largest city economy in Mindanao, Davao City also serves as the largest local economy in southern Philippines.


title: Davao City

text: Agriculture remains the largest economic sector comprising banana, pineapple, coffee and coconut plantations in the city. It is the island's leading exporter of fruits such as mangoes, pomeloes, bananas, coconut products, pineapples, papayas, mangosteens and cacao.


title: Davao City

text: The chocolate industry is the newest development in the city. Malagos Chocolate, developed here by Malagos Agriventures Corp., is now the country's leading artisan chocolate recognized worldwide. On the other hand, Seed Core Enterprises is the country's biggest exporter of cacao to Barry Callebaut. Durian which is locally grown and harvested in the city, is also a notable export, although banana is the largest fruit export in the city. Local corporations like Lorenzo Group, Anflo Group, AMS Group, Sarangani Agricultural Corp. and Vizcaya Plantations Inc. have operations and headquarters here. Multinational companies like Dole, Sumifru/Sumitomo and Del Monte have their regional headquarters here also.


title: Davao City

text: The Davao Gulf provides livelihood for many fishermen. Some of the fish products include yellow fin tuna, brackish water milkfish, mudfish, shrimp and crab. Most of the fish catches are discharged in the fishing port in Barangay Toril, which are then sold in the numerous markets within the city.


title: Davao City

text: The city also serves as the main trade, commerce, and industry hub of Mindanao and is also one of the financial hubs of Mindanao. Phoenix Petroleum is a multinational oil company based in Davao City and is the first company in the Philippines-based outside Metro Manila to be in the PSE Composite Index. Several industrial plants such as those of Coca-Cola Bottlers, Phil., Pepsi-Cola Products, Phil., Interbev Phil Inc. and RC Cola Phil., companies are located in the city. There is also a number of fruit packaging-exporting facilities, and food manufacturing plants as well as industrial construction plants such as Holcim Philippines, Union Galvasteel Corporation, and SteelAsia. The SteelAsia plant is now the largest and most modern steel rolling mill production facility in the country, completed in December 2014 and was purposely built to increase the national steel production and to reduce the construction costs in Mindanao.


title: Davao City

text: BDO Network Bank (formerly One Network Bank) is based in Davao City and is the largest rural bank in the Philippines in terms of assets. Most of its branches are located in Mindanao (including 17 locations where it is the only financial-services provider). Government social-insurance agencies such as the Social Security System and Government Service Insurance System also have locations in the city.


title: Davao City

text: There are several commercial areas in the city: the city's downtown area, also known as the city centre, Davao Chinatown (Uyanguren), Bajada, Lanang, Matina, Ecoland, Agdao, Buhangin, Tibungco, Toril, Mintal and Calinan, the latter three located at the southwestern part of the city.


title: Davao City

text: There are many shopping centers that dot the city. Notable ones include: Gaisano Mall of Davao, which opened in April 1997, is the largest Gaisano Mall in the Philippines, Abreeza, which opened on May 12, 2011, is the first and largest Ayala Mall in Mindanao, and SM Lanang Premier which is the first SM Premier Mall in Mindanao. Other major malls in the city include NCCC Mall of Davao (now defunct), and SM City Ecoland, which is the first SM Mall in Mindanao among many others. NCCC Mall VP (formerly Victoria Plaza Mall), located on J.P. Laurel Ave., is the oldest shopping mall in the city, established in 1992. Felcris Centrale is a mixed use Retail Mall, supermarket, and IT office complex located along Quimpo Boulevard. Gaisano Mall of Toril, which is the second Gaisano Mall under the DSG Sons Group in the city, is a large shopping mall located in Toril District at the southern part of the city. Some minor malls/community malls include Gaisano Grand Tibungco, NCCC Panacan, NCCC Main Uyanguren, Gaisano Grand Calinan, Gaisano Grand Ilustre, and Gaisano Grand Toril. Construction of new shopping malls in the city are currently underway. Gaisano Grand Citygate Mall, which is the fifth Gaisano Mall in the city under the Gaisano Grand Group, is a large shopping mall being constructed in Buhangin District just a few kilometers north of the downtown area. NCCC Mall Buhangin, is the second NCCC Mall in the city which is also located in Buhangin District just beside Gaisano Grand Mall Buhangin; which is close to the upcoming first uphill condo development Camella Manors Frontera. There are also proposed malls which include CityMall Northtown Davao, which will be the first CityMall in the city that will rise in a lot within the vicinity of Northtown, a 116-hectare residential estate by the Alsons Dev. in Barangay Cabantian, Davao City, and the Vista Mall Davao, which will rise in Tugbok District.


title: Davao City

text: As with most cities in the Philippines, Christianity is widespread as a result of Spanish colonialism. Christian churches and chapels dot the city's landscape. A small number of temples, mosques and other religions' places of worship may also be found around the city.


title: Davao City

text: A notable tradition brought by the Spanish still celebrated today in Davao City is the celebration of the feast day of each of the barrios (villages) patron saints with a festival ("fiesta"). These are celebrated through song and dance.


title: Davao City

text: The biggest celebration native to the city is the Kadayawan Festival in early to mid August which, in pre-colonial times was a celebration of the harvest. Today, it serves to commemorate the cultures of the indigenous tribes that inhabit the area surrounding Davao City. Many tribes people visit the city during this time. Festivities include native Mindanaoan street dances, motorcades featuring various clubs and social awareness groups based in the city and art exhibits in various locations featuring local artists and artisans.


title: Davao City

text: The Davao Chinatown is the primary residence of the Chinese community in the city. It has its own seaport, the Santa Ana Wharf, which is also a part of Davao International Port.


title: Davao City

text: Japanese cultural influence, like the Chinese, is also prominent in the city. The Japanese Community was concentrated in Barangay Mintal in the District of Tugbok, Davao City. In fact, a Japanese cemetery and Japanese shrine is located there. Evidence of Japanese influence are still visible in Mintal. There are various Japanese-owned businesses in the city as well. Davao City is also home to Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai International School, a Japanese-administered educational institution.


title: Davao City

text: Several foreign communities reside in the city, including Indonesians, Malaysians, Koreans and Indians. There are ESL schools for foreigners, and export-oriented industrial parks to entice Japanese and (South) Korean firms to set up shop in the city. However, there has been some cultural conflict over the integration of Koreans in the city, with then-city mayor Rodrigo Duterte complaining about their habit of smoking in public places.


title: Davao City

text: There are a number of cultural-heritage sites in the city, including the Davao Museum (in Insular Village, Lanang), the Mindanao Folk Arts Museum (Philippine Women's College, Juna Subdivision, Matina), Davaoeño Historical Society Museum (at Magallanes and Claveria Streets) and the Philippine-Japan Museum (Matsuo Compound, Calinan). Japanese historical sites include the Japanese Tunnel (used by Japanese forces during World War II), the 20th-century Japanese cemetery and the Furukawa Fiber Plant (used by Yoshizo Furukawa as an abacá and banana plantation).


title: Davao City

text: The cuisine of Davao City features skewered and grilled meat dishes, but the most common dish served in the city is kinilaw, made from tuna, mackerel, or swordfish with cucumber (and sometimes radishes) and chili marinated in vinegar. "Sinuglaw", a portmanteau of "sinugba" (grilled) and "kinilaw" in the Cebuano language, is also a term for a dish in which diced, grilled pork belly is mixed with "kinilaw".


title: Davao City

text: Fruit dishes, snacks, and desserts are also popular, most made from durian and bananas. "Ginanggang" is a banana dish that originated in this city and spread to other parts of the country; a banana is grilled, skewered, brushed with margarine and sprinkled with sugar. Durian also made appearance on Davao's culinary scene.


title: Davao City

text: The Philippine eagle, the country's national bird and considered the largest eagle in the world, is endemic to Davao. The orchid "waling-waling" and fruits such as durians, marang, rambutans, pomeloes and mangosteens are popular and generally cheaper in the city. Tourist destinations in the city include the Philippine Eagle Foundation and Nature Center, Mount Apo, Gap Farming Resort, the Davao Crocodile Park, Malagos Garden Resort, Eden Nature Park, and People's Park in the city center which is popular for its sculptures of indigenous people and dancing fountain. Samal Island, a part of Metro Davao, is an island city situated immediately off the city's coast in the Davao Gulf, popularly known for its scenic beaches.


title: Davao City

text: Two major annual festivals are held in the city: the "Araw ng Dabaw" (Day of Davao) on March 16 (The city's incorporation day) and the Kadayawan Festival in August. Also celebrated in the entire month of December, Pasko Fiesta sa Davao is an integration of festive and competitive Christmas activities showcasing colorful lightings and array of decorations in barangays, public parks, roads and buildings, and a series of competitive performances. Another annual festival, the Torotot Festival, is held annually every New Year's Eve. First organized in the last day of 2013 during the 2014 New Year's Eve, it was organized as a recompense for the city firecracker-pyrotechnics ban; it includes a number of people simultaneously blowing party horns, locally known as "torotots". It recorded a number of 7,568 people participating in the first event, aiming to break the world record set by Japan for the most people simultaneously blowing party horns.


title: Davao City

text: During 2011, there were 1,075,000 recorded tourist arrivals in the city, totaled from 81,081 foreign travelers, 983,315 local citizens, and 10,604 balikbayans/overseas Filipino workers. Estimated tourist receipts were recorded at 12.81 billion pesos while estimated economic benefits were 28.19 billion pesos.


title: Davao City

text: Davao City has 182 barangays, with three legislative districts. The city government of Davao is proposing two more congressional districts to serve its growing population.


title: Davao City

text: The 182 barangays of Davao City are arranged according to the 3 legislative districts and 11 administrative districts of the city.


title: Davao City

text: Popular modes of public transportation in the city are multicabs, jeepneys, tricycles, buses and taxis. Multicabs and jeepneys ply 82 designated passenger-vehicle routes around the clock. Tricycles ply routes beyond the main streets of the city. Taxis have several routes in and around Davao City. In mountainous areas, the "habal-habal" passenger motorcycle is the main mode of transportation


title: Davao City

text: The city has the first taxis in the Philippines to accept payments from BancNet and MegaLink ATM and debit cards. The black taxis are linked to the Global Positioning System (GPS), and dispatching is done by computer.


title: Davao City

text: The city offers a wide bus network to cities and provinces in Mindanao and as far as Pasay in Luzon, and Ormoc and Tacloban in the Visayas. The city is accessible by bus from several points in Mindanao such as Cotabato, Kidapawan, General Santos, Digos, Koronadal, Isulan, Tagum, Tandag, Bislig, Malaybalay, Mati, Monkayo, Malita, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Marawi, Butuan, and Surigao .


title: Davao City

text: Construction and improvement of roads and bridges in the city are underway. The city's third major road, the Buhangin Underpass, was completed in the first quarter of 2003. The Traffic Management and Computerization Scheme was implemented, considered one of the most modern in the country.


title: Davao City

text: A monorail project, named the Davao People Mover, has been endorsed by the City Government to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Philippine National Railways (PNR).


title: Davao City

text: A road project, expected to end by 2022, is aiming to reduce travel time from 1 hour and 44 minutes via Pan-Philippine Highway and Diversion Road to 49 minutes via Davao By–pass road.


title: Davao City

text: Davao is connected to other major cities of the Philippines by roll-on/roll-off inter-island ferries. The city is served by domestic passenger ferries at Sasa International Seaport and Santa Ana Wharf, the international seaports of the Port of Davao, the busiest port in Mindanao. The port is capable of servicing inter-island and international shipments. It is located in Davao Gulf and has two approaches, one at Pakiputan Strait between Davao and western Samal Island.


title: Davao City

text: The Davao City and General Santos to Bitung, Indonesia sea connectivity route has also had just been started very recently. This route will enable traders from Mindanao to easily export goods and commodities like food and beverage, electronics and garments, beauty products, fertilizer, construction materials, agricultural inputs, tin cans and packaging materials up to North Sulawesi in Indonesia. The roll-on-roll-off (Ro-Ro) shipping service which will serve the route is Asian Marine Transport, a Philippine-registered shipping firm and operator of the Super Shuttle Ferry, Super Shuttle Roro, and Shuttle Fast Ferry vessels.


title: Davao City

text: Located north of the city center, Francisco Bangoy International Airport is the main airport serving the city and the region. It is also the main international airport in Mindanao. Around 1966, Philippine Airlines (PAL), the country's flag carrier, began its first domestic jet service in the city. Since 2019, the airport has handled flights to 5 international destinations: Quanzhou, Manado, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Doha.


title: Davao City

text: Davao Light and Power Company, an Aboitiz company which is the third-largest electric utility company in the country, serves the city's electricity needs. It had its own gas-operating power plant at Bajada district and 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Toril district.


title: Davao City

text: Davao City Water District is the main water supplier in the city. It obtains its water supply from the mountain springs in the city's western portion as well as from underground or surface water sources. The city's water supply runs through the company's production wells, sumps and reservoirs within the city. Its biggest water supply system is located at Barangay Dumoy.


title: Davao City

text: There are 31 hospitals and tertiary centers in the city like the Davao Doctors Hospital, San Pedro Hospital, Brokenshire Memorial Hospital, Ricardo Limso Medical Center, Davao Medical School Foundation Hospital (DMSF Hospital), Metro Davao Medical and Research Center, Adventist Hospital, MMG Hospital, CHDC Hospital and the Southern Philippines Medical Center. In addition, CURE International, a non-profit organization that operates charitable hospitals and programs worldwide, operates the Tebow CURE Hospital, which is an orthopedic specialty hospital located in Davao City. It provides elective surgeries to both children and adults. Their primary charitable mission is to heal disabled children with conditions such as clubfoot, bowed legs, other bone deformities, untreated burns and cleft lip.


title: Davao City

text: Davao City is also noted and have been praised by the World Health Organization for its smoke-free policy since 2002, the first in the Philippines.


title: Davao City

text: Law and order is maintained by the Philippine National Police and a special military group, Task Force (TF) Davao. TF Davao is formed to protect the city from terrorist attacks and other crime and is affiliated with the Philippine Army and headed by an army colonel.


title: Davao City

text: A curfew on minors is enforced. All businesses, especially bars and discos, are mandated by a city ordinance to stop selling alcoholic drinks at 1:00 am (final approval last July 24, 2013). Motorcyclists without helmets and motorists with defective lights are not legally allowed to enter (or drive in) the city. Executive Order No. 39 imposes the reduction of speed limits for all kinds of motor vehicles within the territorial jurisdiction of Davao City.


title: Davao City

text: President Rodrigo Duterte, mayor of Davao for 22 years, has been credited with making Davao one of the world's safest cities. Rights groups, however, claim that he cites this as justification for his national drug policy. Raw crime data from the Philippine National Police for the years 2010 to 2015 shows that the city had the highest murder rate in the Philippines, and the second-highest number of rapes.


title: Davao City

text: In February 2018, the Davao City Council officially declared Senator Antonio Trillanes ""persona non grata"" after Trillanes portrayed the city as the most dangerous in the Philippines and likening Dabawenyos to North Koreans who are easily brainwashed by President Rodrigo Duterte. "Safest city" rankings are often cited from Numbeo, a crowd-sourced survey website; as of February 2018, Davao had dropped to 275th out of 330 cities in Numbeo's "crime index".


title: Davao City

text: The Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC), the first in the Philippines, is located in Sandawa, Matina. It is headquarters for 911 and the center for the 170 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed in different strategic areas as of today covering access roads and populated downtown areas, and also including outside the Francisco Bangoy International Airport and six in different bridges to monitor the rise of water level in the city's rivers. The center also controls traffic signals in the city.


title: Davao City

text: In Davao City, by city ordinance, police ensure that prostitutes have a valid health card, but do not arrest them, as prostitution is considered a health issue for the women involved and is not a police matter. Jeanette Ampog, the executive director of Talikala, a Davao-based NGO that helps prostitutes, said in October 2016 that child prostitution had sharply increased over the past two years. She said that children were cheaper and more marketable. Nevertheless, the city was awarded "Most Child-Friendly City for Highly-Urbanized Category" in 2013, 2014 and 2017. The city also won the same award in 1998 and 1999. Also in 2017, the city was awarded with the "Best Disaster Risk Reduction and Management".


title: Davao City

text: The city's "Executive Order No. 04, Series of 2013" imposes an order on creating the implementation of rules and regulations for the new comprehensive anti-smoking ordinance no. 0367–12, Series of 2012. Davao City's Firecracker Ban was also implemented with ordinance No. 060-02/1406-02, Series of 2002.


title: Davao City

text: In 2016 and 2017, Davao City is among the local government units awarded with a "Seal of Good Local Governance" by the Department of the Interior and Local Government. The city was also given the same award in 2015, prior to the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte.


title: Davao City

text: The controversial Davao Death Squad is a vigilante group supposedly active in Davao City. The group is allegedly responsible for summary executions of street children and individuals suspected of petty crimes and dealing in drugs in Davao. It has been estimated that the group is responsible for the killing or disappearance of between 1,020 and 1,040 people between 1998 and 2008. In as early as 2005, the US State Department has received reports of the Human Rights Commission's (HRC) investigation regarding the alleged connection of the Duterte political dynasty of Davao to the killings. This was followed by another investigation in 2009, which was later discontinued. Another investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman was opened and closed in 2019, stating that they found no evidence that the alleged group exists.


title: Davao City

text: Sports facilities in the city include the Davao City Recreation Center (Almendras Gymnasium), Tionko Football Field (near Agro College and the Davao River) and the gymnasiums of Ateneo de Davao University, Philippine Women's College of Davao's Rosa Santos Munda Events Center (RSM Events Center), the University of Southeastern Philippines, Holy Cross of Davao College, the University of Mindanao, and Mintal Comprehensive High School. The main sports center of Davao City and also the largest is the Davao City Sports Complex, which hosted the 2019 National Games.


title: Davao City

text: There are locally based sports teams in the city. Davao Football Association, working under the Philippine Football Federation, represents the city and Davao Region for national football events. Locally based basketball teams such as "Goldstar Davao" and "Duterte Agilas" work for the Mindanao Visayas Basketball Association. Collegiate varsity teams based in the tertiary institutions inside the city also compete in national competitions.


title: Davao City

text: Sabong or cockfighting events are also held in cockfighting arenas within the city. In June 2015, the city held the country's largest cockfighting event, the sixth Annual Thunderbird Challenge.


title: Davao City

text: The city government provides free education at the primary (grade school) and secondary (high school) levels at public institutions. Currently, as sanctioned by the Department of Education, all primary and secondary institutions in the city use the K-12 educational system. The city currently hosts five universities.


title: Davao City

text: National media networks such as ABS-CBN of (ABS-CBN Regional)'s First Siblings Mindanao Station under Southern Mindanao was Currently Shutdown and off the air was ordered by National Telecommunications Commission under Ceased Operation last May 5, 2020, GMA Network under "GMA Regional TV"'s Mindanaoan Widest of Southern Central Western and North Mindanao Station, 5, PTV, IBC, and CNN Philippines maintain local stations in the city. The broadcast coverage of these media stations includes all of Davao Region as well as some areas beyond the region.


title: Davao City

text: There are media networks based in the city as well. Davao Christian Broadcasting Channel and Sonshine Media Network International are two religion-oriented media networks, with the latter being owned by the appointed son of god Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church. The locally based community network SouthSpot broadcasts only on cable television.


title: Davao City

text: In addition to 24 national newspapers, Davao City has 21 local daily newspapers, including the "SunStar Davao", the city-based "Mindanao Times", and the "Mindanao Examiner".


title: Davao City

text: The influx of foreign visitors and the presence of expatriates and migrants in the city have prompted the governments of Japan, China, Malaysia, and Indonesia to open Consulates-General in the city, while Palau and the United States have consular offices. Honorary consulates of the Czech Republic, Mexico, Austria, Spain, Timor Leste, Denmark, and South Korea were also recently established. The United States Embassy in the Philippines opened a virtual consulate, where inquiries regarding visas, foreign-relations concerns and travel to the United States can be made by e-mail and chat. The virtual consulate is maintained in coordination with Ateneo de Davao University, University of Mindanao, University of the Immaculate Conception, Holy Cross of Davao College and AMA Computer College.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, psychoactive agent or psychotropic drug is a chemical substance, that changes functions of the nervous system, and results in alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition or behavior.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: These substances may be used medically, recreationally or spiritually to a. Purposefully improve one’s perceived performance b. Alter one's consciousness (such as with entheogens for ritual, spiritual or shamanic purposes) or c. For research.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Some categories of psychoactive drugs - which are believed, by some, to have therapeutic value - may be prescribed by some physicians and other healthcare practitioners.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Examples of medication categories that may contain potentially beneficial psychoactive drugs include, but are not limited to:


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Some psychoactive substances may be used in detoxification and rehabilitation programs for people who may have become dependent upon, or addicted to, other mind or mood altering substances.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Psychoactive substances often bring about subjective (although these may be objectively observed) changes in consciousness and mood that the user may find rewarding and pleasant (e.g., euphoria or a sense of relaxation) or advantageous in an objectively observable or measurable way (e.g. increased alertness). Substances which are rewarding, and thus positively reinforcing, have the potential to induce a state of addiction – compulsive drug use despite negative consequences. In addition, sustained use of some substances may produce physical or psychological dependence, or both, associated with somatic or psychological-emotional withdrawal states respectively. Drug rehabilitation attempts to reduce addiction, through a combination of psychotherapy, support groups, and other psychoactive substances. Conversely, certain psychoactive drugs may be so unpleasant, that the person will never use the substance again. This is especially true of certain deliriants (e.g. Jimson weed), powerful dissociatives (e.g. PCP, ketamine), and classic psychedelics (e.g. LSD, psilocybin), in the form of a "bad trip". But a bad LSD or psilocybin trip is not necessarily bad in the sense that the person can introspectively understand elements of their life, and after this bad trip, understand that this experience was necessary but temporary and that it was beneficial to them. Delirants like DPH are necessarily more or less dysphoric in their manifestation, and therefore much more often unpleasant, with LSD and other psychedelics, the mindset&setting can avoid a bad experience and an anxiolytic can improve the current condition of the person currently suffering from it.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Psychoactive drug misuse, dependence, and addiction have resulted in legal measures and moral debate. Governmental controls on manufacture, supply, and prescription attempt to reduce problematic medical drug use. Ethical concerns have also been raised about over-use of these drugs clinically, and about their marketing by manufacturers. Popular campaigns to decriminalize or legalize the recreational use of certain drugs (e.g. cannabis) are also ongoing.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Psychoactive drug use can be traced to prehistory. There is archaeological evidence of the use of psychoactive substances, mostly plants, dating back at least 10,000 years, and historical evidence of cultural use over the past 5,000 years. The chewing of coca leaves, for example, dates back over 8,000 years ago in Peruvian society.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Medicinal use is one important facet of psychoactive drug usage. However, some have postulated that the urge to alter one's consciousness is as primary as the drive to satiate thirst, hunger, or sexual desire. Supporters of this belief contend that the history of drug use, and even children's desire for spinning, swinging, or sliding indicate that the drive to alter one's state of mind is universal.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: One of the first people to articulate this point of view, set aside from a medicinal context, was American author Fitz Hugh Ludlow (1836–1870) in his book "The Hasheesh Eater" (1857):


title: Psychoactive drug

text: During the 20th century, many governments across the world initially responded to the use of recreational drugs by banning them, and making their use, supply, or trade a criminal offense. A notable example of this was Prohibition in the United States, where alcohol was made illegal for 13 years. However, many governments, government officials, and persons in law enforcement have concluded that illicit drug use cannot be sufficiently stopped through criminalization. Organizations such as Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) have come to such a conclusion, believing:


title: Psychoactive drug

text: In some countries, there has been a move toward harm reduction by health services, where the use of illicit drugs is neither condoned nor promoted, but services and support are provided to ensure users have adequate factual information readily available, and that the negative effects of their use be minimized. Such is the case of the Portuguese drug policy of decriminalization, which achieved its primary goal of reducing the adverse health effects of drug abuse.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Psychoactive substances are used by humans for a number of different purposes, and these uses vary widely between cultures. Some substances may have controlled or illegal uses, some may have shamanic purposes, and some others are used medicinally. Other examples would be social drinking, nootropic, or sleep aids. Caffeine is the world's most widely consumed psychoactive substance, but unlike many others, it is legal and unregulated in nearly all jurisdictions. In North America, 90% of adults consume caffeine daily.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Psychoactive drugs are divided into different groups according to their pharmacological effects. Commonly used psychoactive drugs and groups:


title: Psychoactive drug

text: General anesthetics are a class of psychoactive drug used on people to block physical pain and other sensations. Most anesthetics induce unconsciousness, allowing the person to undergo medical procedures like surgery, without the feelings of physical pain or emotional trauma. To induce unconsciousness, anesthetics affect the GABA and NMDA systems. For example, propofol is a GABA agonist, and ketamine is an NMDA receptor antagonist.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Psychoactive drugs are often prescribed to manage pain. The subjective experience of pain is primarily regulated by endogenous opioid peptides. Thus, pain can often be managed using psychoactives that operate on this neurotransmitter system, also known as opioid receptor agonists. This class of drugs can be highly addictive, and includes opiate narcotics, like morphine and codeine. NSAIDs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen, are also analgesics. These agents also reduce eicosanoid-mediated inflammation by inhibiting the enzyme cyclooxygenase.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Psychiatric medications are psychoactive drugs prescribed for the management of mental and emotional disorders, or to aid in overcoming challenging behavior. There are six major classes of psychiatric medications:


title: Psychoactive drug

text: In addition, several psychoactive substances are currently employed to treat various addictions. These include acamprosate or naltrexone in the treatment of alcoholism, or methadone or buprenorphine maintenance therapy in the case of opioid addiction.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Exposure to psychoactive drugs can cause changes to the brain that counteract or augment some of their effects; these changes may be beneficial or harmful. However, there is a significant amount of evidence that the relapse rate of mental disorders negatively corresponds with the length of properly followed treatment regimens (that is, relapse rate substantially declines over time), and to a much greater degree than placebo.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Many psychoactive substances are used for their mood and perception altering effects, including those with accepted uses in medicine and psychiatry. Examples of psychoactive substances include caffeine, alcohol, cocaine, LSD, nicotine and cannabis. Classes of drugs frequently used recreationally include:


title: Psychoactive drug

text: In some modern and ancient cultures, drug usage is seen as a status symbol. Recreational drugs are seen as status symbols in settings such as at nightclubs and parties. For example, in ancient Egypt, gods were commonly pictured holding hallucinogenic plants.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Because there is controversy about regulation of recreational drugs, there is an ongoing debate about drug prohibition. Critics of prohibition believe that regulation of recreational drug use is a violation of personal autonomy and freedom. In the United States, critics have noted that prohibition or regulation of recreational and spiritual drug use might be unconstitutional, and causing more harm than is prevented.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Some people who take psychoactive drugs experience drug or substance induced psychosis. A 2019 systematic review and meta-analysis by Murrie et al. found that the pooled proportion of transition from substance-induced psychosis to schizophrenia was 25% (95% CI 18%–35%), compared with 36% (95% CI 30%–43%) for brief, atypical and not otherwise specified psychoses. Type of substance was the primary predictor of transition from drug-induced psychosis to schizophrenia, with highest rates associated with cannabis (6 studies, 34%, CI 25%–46%), hallucinogens (3 studies, 26%, CI 14%–43%) and amphetamines (5 studies, 22%, CI 14%–34%). Lower rates were reported for opioid (12%), alcohol (10%) and sedative (9%) induced psychoses. Transition rates were slightly lower in older cohorts but were not affected by sex, country of the study, hospital or community location, urban or rural setting, diagnostic methods, or duration of follow-up.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Certain psychoactives, particularly hallucinogens, have been used for religious purposes since prehistoric times. Native Americans have used peyote cacti containing mescaline for religious ceremonies for as long as 5700 years. The muscimol-containing "Amanita muscaria" mushroom was used for ritual purposes throughout prehistoric Europe.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: The use of entheogens for religious purposes resurfaced in the West during the counterculture movements of the 1960s and 70s. Under the leadership of Timothy Leary, new spiritual and intention-based movements began to use LSD and other hallucinogens as tools to access deeper inner exploration. In the United States, the use of peyote for ritual purposes is protected only for members of the Native American Church, which is allowed to cultivate and distribute peyote. However, the genuine religious use of peyote, regardless of one's personal ancestry, is protected in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Oregon.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Both military and civilian American intelligence officials are known to have used psychoactive drugs while interrogating captives apprehended in its ""war on terror"". In July 2012 Jason Leopold and Jeffrey Kaye, psychologists and human rights workers, had a Freedom of Information Act request fulfilled that confirmed that the use of psychoactive drugs during interrogation was a long-standing


title: Psychoactive drug

text: practice. Captives and former captives had been reporting medical staff collaborating with interrogators to drug captives with powerful psychoactive drugs prior to interrogation since the very first captives release.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: In May 2003 recently released Pakistani captive Sha Mohammed Alikhel described the routine use of psychoactive drugs. He said that Jihan Wali, a captive kept in a nearby cell, was rendered catatonic through the use of these drugs.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Additionally, militaries worldwide have used or are using various psychoactive drugs to improve performance of soldiers by suppressing hunger, increasing the ability to sustain effort without food, increasing and lengthening wakefulness and concentration, suppressing fear, reducing empathy, and improving reflexes and memory-recall among other things.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: The first documented case of a soldier overdosing on methamphetamine during combat, was the Finnish corporal Aimo Koivunen, a soldier who fought in the Winter War and the Continuation War.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Psychoactive drugs are administered via oral ingestion as a tablet, capsule, powder, liquid, and beverage; via injection by subcutaneous, intramuscular, and intravenous route; via rectum by suppository and enema; and via inhalation by smoking, vaporizing, and snorting. The efficiency of each method of administration varies from drug to drug.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: The psychiatric drugs fluoxetine, quetiapine, and lorazepam are ingested orally in tablet or capsule form. Alcohol and caffeine are ingested in beverage form; nicotine and cannabis are smoked or vaporized; peyote and psilocybin mushrooms are ingested in botanical form or dried; and crystalline drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine are usually inhaled or snorted.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: The theory of dosage, set, and setting is a useful model in dealing with the effects of psychoactive substances, especially in a controlled therapeutic setting as well as in recreational use. Dr. Timothy Leary, based on his own experiences and systematic observations on psychedelics, developed this theory along with his colleagues Ralph Metzner, and Richard Alpert (Ram Dass) in the 1960s.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: The first factor, dosage, has been a truism since ancient times, or at least since Paracelsus who said, "Dose makes the poison." Some compounds are beneficial or pleasurable when consumed in small amounts, but harmful, deadly, or evoke discomfort in higher doses.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: The set is the internal attitudes and constitution of the person, including their expectations, wishes, fears, and sensitivity to the drug. This factor is especially important for the hallucinogens, which have the ability to make conscious experiences out of the unconscious. In traditional cultures, set is shaped primarily by the worldview, health and genetic characteristics that all the members of the culture share.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: The third aspect is setting, which pertains to the surroundings, the place, and the time in which the experiences transpire.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: This theory clearly states that the effects are equally the result of chemical, pharmacological, psychological, and physical influences. The model that Timothy Leary proposed applied to the psychedelics, although it also applies to other psychoactives.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Psychoactive drugs operate by temporarily affecting a person's neurochemistry, which in turn causes changes in a person's mood, cognition, perception and behavior. There are many ways in which psychoactive drugs can affect the brain. Each drug has a specific action on one or more neurotransmitter or neuroreceptor in the brain.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Drugs that increase activity in particular neurotransmitter systems are called agonists. They act by increasing the synthesis of one or more neurotransmitters, by reducing its reuptake from the synapses, or by mimicking the action by binding directly to the postsynaptic receptor. Drugs that reduce neurotransmitter activity are called antagonists, and operate by interfering with synthesis or blocking postsynaptic receptors so that neurotransmitters cannot bind to them.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Exposure to a psychoactive substance can cause changes in the structure and functioning of neurons, as the nervous system tries to re-establish the homeostasis disrupted by the presence of the drug (see also, neuroplasticity). Exposure to antagonists for a particular neurotransmitter can increase the number of receptors for that neurotransmitter or the receptors themselves may become more responsive to neurotransmitters; this is called sensitization. Conversely, overstimulation of receptors for a particular neurotransmitter may cause a decrease in both number and sensitivity of these receptors, a process called desensitization or tolerance. Sensitization and desensitization are more likely to occur with long-term exposure, although they may occur after only a single exposure. These processes are thought to play a role in drug dependence and addiction. Physical dependence on antidepressants or anxiolytics may result in worse depression or anxiety, respectively, as withdrawal symptoms. Unfortunately, because clinical depression (also called major depressive disorder) is often referred to simply as depression, antidepressants are often requested by and prescribed for patients who are depressed, but not clinically depressed.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: The following is a brief table of notable drugs and their primary neurotransmitter, receptor or method of action. Many drugs act on more than one transmitter or receptor in the brain.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Psychoactive drugs are often associated with addiction or drug dependence. Dependence can be divided into two types: psychological dependence, by which a user experiences negative psychological or emotional withdrawal symptoms (e.g., depression) and physical dependence, by which a user must use a drug to avoid physically uncomfortable or even medically harmful physical withdrawal symptoms. Drugs that are both rewarding and reinforcing are addictive; these properties of a drug are mediated through activation of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, particularly the nucleus accumbens. Not all addictive drugs are associated with physical dependence, e.g., amphetamine, and not all drugs that produce physical dependence are addictive drugs, e.g., caffeine.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Many professionals, self-help groups, and businesses specialize in drug rehabilitation, with varying degrees of success, and many parents attempt to influence the actions and choices of their children regarding psychoactives.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: Common forms of rehabilitation include psychotherapy, support groups and pharmacotherapy, which uses psychoactive substances to reduce cravings and physiological withdrawal symptoms while a user is going through detox. Methadone, itself an opioid and a psychoactive substance, is a common treatment for heroin addiction, as is another opioid, buprenorphine. Recent research on addiction has shown some promise in using psychedelics such as ibogaine to treat and even cure drug addictions, although this has yet to become a widely accepted practice.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: The legality of psychoactive drugs has been controversial through most of "recent" history; the Second Opium War and Prohibition are two historical examples of legal controversy surrounding psychoactive drugs. However, in recent years, the most influential document regarding the legality of psychoactive drugs is the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, an international treaty signed in 1961 as an Act of the United Nations. Signed by 73 nations including the United States, the USSR, Pakistan, India, and the United Kingdom, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs established Schedules for the legality of each drug and laid out an international agreement to fight addiction to recreational drugs by combatting the sale, trafficking, and use of scheduled drugs. All countries that signed the treaty passed laws to implement these rules within their borders. However, some countries that signed the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, such as the Netherlands, are more lenient with their enforcement of these laws.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authority over all drugs, including psychoactive drugs. The FDA regulates which psychoactive drugs are over the counter and which are only available with a prescription. However, certain psychoactive drugs, like alcohol, tobacco, and drugs listed in the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs are subject to criminal laws. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 regulates the recreational drugs outlined in the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Alcohol is regulated by state governments, but the federal National Minimum Drinking Age Act penalizes states for not following a national drinking age. Tobacco is also regulated by all fifty state governments. Most people accept such restrictions and prohibitions of certain drugs, especially the "hard" drugs, which are illegal in most countries.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: In the medical context, psychoactive drugs as a treatment for illness is widespread and generally accepted. Little controversy exists concerning over the counter psychoactive medications in antiemetics and antitussives. Psychoactive drugs are commonly prescribed to patients with psychiatric disorders. However, certain critics believe that certain prescription psychoactives, such as antidepressants and stimulants, are overprescribed and threaten patients' judgement and autonomy.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: A number of animals consume different psychoactive plants, animals, berries and even fermented fruit, becoming intoxicated, such as cats after consuming catnip. Traditional legends of sacred plants often contain references to animals that introduced humankind to their use. Animals and psychoactive plants appear to have co-evolved, possibly explaining why these chemicals and their receptors exist within the nervous system.


title: Psychoactive drug

text: This is a list of commonly used drugs that contain psychoactive ingredients. Please note that the following lists contains legal and illegal drugs (based on the country's laws).


title: Read-only memory

text: Read-only memory (ROM) is a type of non-volatile memory used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be electronically modified after the manufacture of the memory device. Read-only memory is useful for storing software that is rarely changed during the life of the system, also known as firmware. Software applications (like video games) for programmable devices can be distributed as plug-in cartridges containing ROM.


title: Read-only memory

text: Strictly speaking, "read-only memory" refers to memory that is hard-wired, such as diode matrix or a mask ROM integrated circuit (IC), which cannot be electronically changed after manufacture. Although discrete circuits can be altered in principle, through the addition of bodge wires and/or the removal or replacement of components, ICs cannot. Correction of errors, or updates to the software, require new devices to be manufactured and to replace the installed device.


title: Read-only memory

text: Floating-gate ROM semiconductor memory in the form of erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) and flash memory can be erased and re-programmed. But usually, this can only be done at relatively slow speeds, may require special equipment to achieve, and is typically only possible a certain number of times.


title: Read-only memory

text: The term "ROM" is sometimes used to mean a ROM device containing specific software, or a file with software to be stored in EEPROM or Flash Memory. For example, users modifying or replacing the Android operating system describe files containing a modified or replacement operating system as "custom ROMs" after the type of storage the file used to be written to.


title: Read-only memory

text: IBM used capacitor read-only storage (CROS) and transformer read-only storage (TROS) to store microcode for the smaller System/360 models, the 360/85, and the initial two System/370 models (370/155 and 370/165). On some models there was also a writeable control store (WCS) for additional diagnostics and emulation support. The Apollo Guidance Computer used core rope memory, programmed by threading wires through magnetic cores.


title: Read-only memory

text: The simplest type of solid-state ROM is as old as the semiconductor technology itself. Combinational logic gates can be joined manually to map -bit address input onto arbitrary values of -bit data output (a look-up table). With the invention of the integrated circuit came mask ROM. Mask ROM consists of a grid of word lines (the address input) and bit lines (the data output), selectively joined together with transistor switches, and can represent an arbitrary look-up table with a regular physical layout and predictable propagation delay.