Who's Killing It? A DBS Murder Mystery Party Highlights

If there’s one word to describe Who’s Killing It? A DBS Murder Mystery Party, it would be awe-inspiring. From fun and exciting activities to touching and memorable moments, the Davao Bloggers Society carved out a successful annual celebration. The party was a testament that the blogging organization is truly back in the game, as they had celebrated Christmas in camaraderie with unlimited surprises and merited awards.

Let’s look back at all the activities and surprises that we witnessed last December 2, at Hotel San Marco with these hightlights:

Starting with a Surprise

The event kicked off with a prayer led by Bench Payla and the singing of the Philippine national anthem. To the members’ utter surprise, Sarah Aterrado went on stage to dance to Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” and was followed by the Davao Bloggers’ resident choreophiles, Jade Factura, Jamaica Bastasa, Goin Pineda, and the DBS Murder Mystery maestro himself, Jexx Hinggo.

Everyone was stunned by the fun and theme-perfect moves, and some couldn’t get over the fact that they had prepared for a fantastic performance, as it was one of the most requested presentations for the Christmas party.

Best Dressed

Every year, the DBS members look forward to the annual Christmas party theme as it’s the only time of the year when they get to dress up and portray a character they’ve been wanting to. And since the DBS Murder Mystery party is a grand one, the members have prepared their best mystery theme ensembles and strut their stuff on the runway.

For this year, Clea Banal and Kirby Gaitano brought home the most coveted Best Dressed award. Clea donned a long black dress and a vintage mesh headdress, portraying a widow in the 1930s. Her alluring accessories and lustrous, curly blonde locks made her stand out. On the other hand, Kirby’s prince-like stature and eloquent embroidery on his suit captivated the judges’ and everyone else’s hearts.

The recently shipped pair brought home 2500 PHP worth of SM gift certificates, Huawei speakers from 8Telcom, and 500PHP foodpanda vouchers each, and their own stashes.

Dinner Time

Every DBS Christmas party wouldn’t be without the food. This year’s feast was the care of Hotel San Marco, with Cordon Bleu, Beef Salpicao, and Pumpkin Soup standing out as crowd favorites. DBS is also very thankful to Alsons Development and Investment Corporation for sending in a huge lechon for everyone to devour. Red Ribbon also gave celebratory cakes for our dessert.

While the dinner commenced, DBS Membership Director Emman Alba serenaded the bloggers with Ric Segreto’s classic hit, “Don’t Know What to Say.”

Murder Mystery Game

Another activity that everyone who knew looked forward to is the Murder Mystery Game crafted by event maestro Jexx Hinggo specifically for this year’s party. Jexx took inspiration from murder mystery games but added his own twist.

The DBS members were then divided into three groups with seven members. Each member was assigned a character they ought to portray; one was the victim, and the other was the killer. The killer must keep it a secret, as everyone should guess who the real murderer is based on how each member describes their character’s relationship with the victim.

The Murder Mystery game turned out to be one of the funniest, most exciting, and most enjoyable parts of the event, as most of the players did their best to act out their parts. It was just unfortunate that none of the groups was able to guess the real killers correctly. The people portraying the secret killers, Athina Angliongto, Raff Luchavez, and Sarah Aterrado, did a great job of pretending they were innocent. They each won 2000 PHP worth of foodpanda vouchers.

The DBS officers also awarded the three best actors who gave their all and embraced each of their characters. Goin Pineda, Josef Cagas, and Glenn Agallano were applauded for their impeccable performances and got 500 PHP foodpanda vouchers each.

Davao Blog Awards 2023

This year, another tradition of the Davao Bloggers Society came back: the Davao Blog Awards, where we recognize the best bloggers for 2023. This year has three Official Awards and one Special Award. The Davao Blog Awards 2023 is Co-presented by Cebu Pacific Air.

The first award was Promising Newbie of the Year, with Kate Brato bagging the award. Amongst all the newbies, Kate was chosen as she was deemed to possess the ideal character of a DBS member.

The second award was Social Media Star of the Year, with Athina Angliongto of DiscovDavao emerging as the top star, with her enchanting and top-notch Tiktok videos supporting local businesses and updating Davaoeños on the city’s current players in food, events, shopping, health, beauty, and lifestyle.

Finally, Josef Cagas of Davao Geek Hub is the Cebu Pacific Davao Blogger of the Year, consistently delivering exceptional content on his blogging platform and social media accounts.

The Mountain Mover Award

During and shortly after the pandemic, the DBS organization was at a standstill, as many people left the org with very few active members. We didn’t know what to do about it, and during the time for electing new officers, most of us were even just requested and had no choice but to accept each of our roles.

If not for current DBS President Gem Tadefa’s hard work and consistent push, the org wouldn’t be what it is today. We have outstanding old and new members, imminent partnerships, and loyal patrons supporting the organization all the way.

DBS President Gem Tadefa surprised with the Award (yes; he had no idea at all).

The DBS Mountain Mover award was given to Gem for his relentless and exemplary performance in moving DBS to greater heights.

The four awardees received return tickets with 20kg baggage in any Philippine destination care of Cebu Pacific Air, an NCCC gift bag, and a 500 foodpanda voucher.

Kris Kringle

For the second time around, the DBS members had their annual exchange gifts on the Christmas party day itself, with almost every member participating in the tradition. Everyone was all smiles as they received stuff on their wishlist and even more.

Raffles and More Surprises

No one left the venue hall crying as everyone brought home a legion of gift certificates, fashion, and tech products care of the DBS generous sponsors. The Christmas party attendees were also stunned upon receiving their very own Davao Bloggers shirt, care of the org!