Davao City councilors deplored the lack or absence of fuel supply data from the national agencies in Davao region. Well, what can you expect from the Department of Energy? The lack of basic information on the fuel situation only reflects the same lackadaisical attitude of the national leadership which the President himself articulated: “Wala na tayong magawa dyan”.
With that fatalism from the national leadership the city government of Davao should now explore all possibilities to forestall the inevitable shortage or at worse stoppage of supply of fuel. Remember that Davao City is not in the league of local government units which Malacanang and the House of Representatives have an avuncular space. USec Claire Castro, the spokesperson of President BongBong Marcos, had declared that Davao City is a dangerous place to live and a bad place to invest in. Currently, despite the country’s state of emergency the House Justice Committee is working tooth and nail to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte not only because she is from Davao and Mindanao but because she is bound to be the next president of the Philippines.
Despite the indifference of the national leadership on Davao City however, the confidence and trust of investors in the Duterte brand of governance did not ebb. Investment capital is secured by the stable peace in the city and the transparency of the city government. The momentum of growth and development is in full swing. Massive infrastructures are all in the finishing stages.
The Davao International Airport has slowly but surely become a distinct international hub. Singapore’s Changi Airport Group will likely get the award to modernize DIA with its proposed ₱16.05-billion project to upgrade, expand, and operate the airport under a Public-Private Partnership with Filinvest Infra-Solutions and JG Summit Infrastructure. The goal is to increase capacity to 13 million passengers annually.
With these growth potentials the city government must address the problem of fuel supply on its own. Former President Rodrigo Duterte had established personal and official ties with heads of states and I do not think that his detention has diminished that. Mayor Baste Duterte with some help from VP Sara can directly negotiate for supply from Russia, China and Indonesia to name a few.
Come to think of it, the Mindanao leaders can come to a planning table and decide to look for an investment partner, domestic and international, to explore and mine the gas and fuel deposits in Sulu Sea, Liguasan marsh and the vast Agusan del Sur lakes and swamplands . Mindanao is endowed not only with precious metals deposits but gas and oil as well.
We Mindanaons can overcome!
