By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
About two years after my last trip to Davao City, I had a chance to revisit the place. Thanks to an international fruit symposium held in the city from Aug. 29 to Sept. 2, 2016. As expected, I found great changes unfolding. Development is at a feverish pitch.
Traffic is now crawling in many parts of the city, especially in the downtown area. Maximum speed limit in the city center is 40kph but as you go further away from the center, speed allowed becomes higher. Almost all the drivers are disciplined enough to follow the limits since authorities really implement traffic rules. Even the seat belt law is strictly followed, that’s why when you ride a taxi, the driver will ask you to wear the seat belt. Otherwise they will reap the consequencies.
The traffic had been and is being caused by the influx of visitors to the city especially after Mayor Duterte was elected as our president. To ease such traffic, some roads are being widened. The activity though contributed to a temporary increase in street congestion.
President Duterte is now making the city a hub of so much activities, be it economic or diplomatic. This maybe explained, according to residents, by President Digong’s going home to Davao every weekend. The hotel venue of our meet was also the simultaneous venue of two more seminars/convention of nationwide participation.
While on board a taxi, the driver, who was originally from Cavite, was pointing to a hospital whose equipment was as good as any modern hospital in Manila. Beside it, he said further, is a heart center where local doctors can perform triple heart bypass, among others. No need to go to Manila.
I took a pedicab and the driver was so proud, like most Davaoenos, of the election of President Digong. Asked about what he can say about Davao after the election, he immediately mentioned the peace and order situation which even improved. His lament though is that, employment is not yet that good. New jobs are not yet there. He seems to be concerned about the plight of so many employees in the city, especially those in department stores, where sales ladies are paid a paltry sum of only PhP150.00 per day! This, he volunteered, is especially true to Korean and Chinese employers. Filipino owners pay much higher wages, according to him. “This should be addressed by the authorities”, he knowingly stated, looking at me.
The high-pitch development pace is exemplified by competition, if you call it that, of developers in constructing high-rise buildings in their properties. For example, Megaworld is about to complete its twin towers I think in Agdao district while Ayala Land is not far behind in completing its version of a twin towers in another district. Other buildings are sprouting in various part of the sprawling city.
The fast emerging economic importance of the city is underscored by the presence of consulates such as those of Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is also where the head of the Australian Center for International Agricultural Center (ACIAR) in southern Philippines is based.
In a private huddle, the Malaysian consul told us that his country believes in the huge economic potential of Davao. It is fast developing and what is interesting is that, the city is only 15% developed. His country is developing a township in an underdeveloped area with Malaysian funding. He loves the place and that his government trusts him so much that he had already stayed there for 4 years although consuls are allowed only 2 years to stay in one place at a time. This is despite the fact that as a consul he can’t venture out of his place of jurisdiction, which is around southern Philippines. He had not been therefore to any part of the Philippines outside of that sphere.
The consul is also echoing the same sentiment as the pedicab driver on the peace and order situation. He said President Digong is correct in prioritizing this since a peaceful and orderly situation will surely attract investors. “There is more security of investments in such climate”, he emphasized.
He narrated that his friend, Mr George Yang, the owner of the McDonald franchise in the Philippines is also plunging for the first time, into the calmer panorama of Mindanao. McDonald is bent on establishing around 17 stores in Mindanao within the next two years or so, starting in Davao city.
One of the downsides of the looming economic boom is the appreciation of lot costs. It increased by a whooping more than 10% in the last two years to about PhP1.5million/ 1000sq.m.. But such price is no comparison to a cost of US$280.00 million per 1,000sq.m in Korea where he also served for two years! In addition, he said that the least house rent that they paid in the same country was US$10,000.00 but in Davao, the same amount could afford you to rent a palace!
The rosy and bright future of Davao City is recognized even by our foreign friends. I hope its potential will bring better life in Davao and serve as a shining example for other parts of the Philippines, like the Cordillera region. **
