Richard Heydarian who is described in the social media as a political scientist and often referred to as an “analyst” has become not only a laughing stock but an ignoramus when he referred to Davao City as a sub-Saharan metropolis … meaning poor.
Not a few Davawenyos were mad at his attribution and wanted him be declared persona non-grata but others simply considered him childishly ignorant.
The recent data issued by the Philippines Statistics Authority ranking Davao City in 5th place among the Highly Urbanized City in the Philippines should give Heydarian a priceless lesson on the virtue of humility and to go slow on his being judgemental.
Davao City contributed ₱532.54 -billion pesos to the country’s Gross Domestic Product or a share of 2.5 percent to the GDP.
Making it to the 9th place is Cebu City. The rest of cities that made it to the exclusive club of 10 highly urbanized cities are all from Metro Manila.
When ranked with 82 provinces and all of 33 highly urbanized cities Davao City still ranked No. 10 among those which contributed the largest share to the country’s GDP. With its growth rate of 7.5% Davao City contributes 52.3 percent to gross regional domestic product of ₱1.3- trillion. Not bad for a sub-Saharan city.
But Davao City could be a league of his own. The Duterte leadership is quite strict with fiscal management it is debt-free. It pioneered the 911 Emergency Network System years back which the national government just recently started and made a lot of hoopla.
The Davao Public Transport Modernization Project was another first in the country and was approved for implementation by the national government. For reasons that is mainly political, this was scrapped. The city government moreover pursued the project on its own with the initial procurement of 10 units of truncated hybrid passenger buses.
The city coastal boulevard, is almost complete. A spectacular site and could be the best in the world, it will ease traffic that is becoming part of the challenging problems in a rapidly growing city. Moreover, there is another bypass highway west of the urban center that is nearing completion along with a 45-kilometer-tunnel, the longest in the Philippines , that will cut short travel time for motorists from the south all the way to Davao del Norte.
The Davao City Water District holds the distinction of being the most efficient water utility in the country. DCWD has two sources of water, one from the city’s rich aquifers and the other bulk water project which taps the surface water of Tamugan and Panigan rivers assuring steady supply of potable water for generations to come. DCWD too will start operating its state-of-the-art septage facilities project.
The skyline of Davao City changes at a dizzying pace. Because of is stable peace and healthy investment climate migration and capital investment kept coming. Membership supermarkets like S&R and Landers are here competing with super malls that occupy vast tracts of lands for free parking. There is no telling when construction of condominium units will cease.
Davao International Airport has direct flights to Singapore, Thailand, Hongkong and China. Davao exports limitless volumes of durian, fresh tuna and grouper fish to China.
Since 1988 with the start of Duterte leadership Davao City has grown rapidly after it addressed crime syndicates, CPP/NPA terrorists and separatist problems. It had enforced no smoking ordinance, speed limit and firecracker ban. We Davawenyos do not mind these for the prize of these are progress and development and living in peace and comfort.
Former President Rodrigo R. Duterte and Vice President Dutere and her siblings are relentlessly being vilified by political adversaries and their paid propagandists but still they rated high in surveys and confidence of electorates in and out of Davao City. They must have done something good.
