For someone who regularly shuttles between Manila and Mindanao, the economic boom experienced by Davao City is something that really awes frequent travelers. Of course, the big credit goes to former city mayor, now president, Rodrigo Duterte who ruled it sternly for two decades.
While the President’s management style had earned him criticisms from some sectors, his uniquely Dutertesque policies inspired the country’s other areas to emulate him. Right or wrong, depending on which side of the fence you are, his governance style was a factor that greatly enhanced his image when he ran for president in 2016.
Now, six months after leaving Davao’s mayoralty, his legacy’s imprints remain. For the sixth straight year, no injury or death was recorded from firecrackers or pyrotechnics. If that sounds amazing, wait until you hear that transactions in the city government are done in 72 hours.
On the infrastructure side, Davao City’s once dying central business district is now a condominium forest, replacing the lines of banks that have since moved to parts of the local Chinatown. Better still, structures as high as 42 stories are slowly changing the city’s skyline.
Davao, however, is not just a boom city; it has also become a haven for retirement, visitation, recreation, and settlement., With only occasionally wayward typhoons felt in the region, migrants’ traffic has become heavy in recent years, largely due to its peace and order situation.
Surprisingly, the city, with only a handful of subdivisions in the early post-Marcos era, is not home to close to a thousand low-cost, high-end and median level housing projects. With an area nearly four times that Metro Manila, the idea of resettling there has become a draw.
While traffic may have slowly become every urban commuter’s nightmare, the city is better off in terms of urban planning. Under the Duterte presidency, it is not far behind to see the realization of a 35-kilometer coastal road that links the city’s south to the north, and the eventual construction of a railway system that links Davao to many other Mindanao cities.
When in Davao, travelers must not forget what they hear over the plane’s public address system that ‘No Smoking’ is Strictly (with capital S) imposed in this highly urbanized city.
In a way, these ‘special qualities’ uniquely make Davao City the country’s new economic frontier in the South.
(Johnny Dayang)