Davao City survives denigration
Yes, Davao City survives the denigration of Presidential Spokesperson Claire Castro and putschist Antonio Trillanes, who picture the city as the most dangerous place to live and invest in.
Text size
Yes, Davao City survives the denigration of Presidential Spokesperson Claire Castro and putschist Antonio Trillanes, who picture the city as the most dangerous place to live and invest in.
Davao City is well-endowed with fertile lands, rivers, lakes, and seas. Its people — that includes a dozen indigenous tribes and pioneers — are united in one harmonious community.
For years under the Duterte leadership the city achieved a dynamic economic growth driven by a healthy atmosphere of peace and orderliness and massive infrastructure. Today, the Davao Region has among the highest economic growth, landing fifth all over the country with Davao City at the forefront.
As I write this piece, Davao City’s economy reached ₱P601.68 billion, welding its position as the only city in Mindanao that is among the country’s top 10 largest local economies. Economic indicators show that “the growth reflects continued expansions in business, investment, and employment across the Davao Region.”
Recent indicators show Davao City has a burgeoning agricultural export industry. Consider these figures: durian — $275.01 million; bananas — $14.5-M; dragon fruit — $1.02-M; and mangoes — $170,800. These do not include the fresh and processed marine products that are gobbled up in the export markets.
This is despite the concentration of negative propaganda that emanates from Malacañang and its paid commercial analysts and vloggers.
Yes, Davao City survives the denigration of Presidential Spokesperson Claire Castro and putschist Antonio Trillanes who picture the city as the most dangerous place to live and invest in. The throngs of investors that came to Davao City, however, argue against them. The city landscape has changed and growth centers have sprouted all over.
The city has been isolated by the Marcos administration, but the city government under the Duterte leadership has forded on. Housing for the poor, a modern transport system using electric vehicles that offers free rides to the public, a coastal boulevard that could be considered one of the most beautiful in the world — all these are being shamelessly claimed by Malacañang as its legacy.
The bulk water project of the Davao City Water District, a joint venture between DCWD and Apo Agua Infrastructura Inc., has a current capacity of 300-million liters per day. Only 30 percent of the volume of top water of Tamugan and Panigan rivers is utilized. The ground water can supply up to 400-million liters per day. DCWD holds the distinction of being the best managed water district in the country. Whatever weather phenomenon strikes the country Davao City can weather it.
A few days ago, some impressionable media characters came out with traffic data derived from the Tomtom traffic index that showed Davao City traffic profile as the worst in the country. The same outfit came out with a survey at the height of the 2022 elections showing similar data.
As a city resident who drives almost daily, I was stunned by the Tomtom figures until they came out with a picture to back up its claim. The photo was obviously of the junction of the Guadalupe Bridge on EDSA and J.P. Rizal Avenue in Makati where traffic congestion happens.
The intention of course was to show that doing business in Davao City was not advisable for investors because of losses caused by traffic snarls. But investors are not naive. They came, they saw, and the utter lies perpetrated by the commercialized Tomtom Traffic Index are nothing but another effort of dubious political forces that are out to destroy the image of Davao City.
If at all there is a legitimate problematic issue about traffic problems in the city, it is the absence or lack of a working and stable traffic light signaling system. For a city that is currently ranked as the eighth richest in the country it is a shame that it cannot afford to have one. While it provides employment to traffic aides, we cannot be in that Jurassic situation forever.
