EDITORIAL - Top performer

Gross domestic products in Central Visayas reportedly increased to a whopping 8.8 percent last year, beating the 2015 growth as the region continues to position itself as one of the top performers in the country.

The GDP growth, much higher than the overall national economic output, was the highest in four years and local economic authorities are hopeful that the region, whose economy is now valued at P525 billion, can sustain the momentum in the next few years.  

This development only means Central Visayas has continued to play an important role in the national development. In fact, the region has become a major contributor to the national economic output for decades.

While Central Visayas as a whole continues to attract billions of pesos worth of domestic and foreign investments, it's really unfortunate that infrastructure development remains slow across the region.

Except for the Mactan-Cebu International Airport's major rehabilitation, there are really no other big-ticket infrastructure projects that are currently being undertaken in the region, especially in Cebu.

Yes there's the third bridge project that connects mainland Cebu to Mactan that is beginning to take shape. This aside from the several major road construction projects across the province that the Duterte administration is planning to undertake.

But it will take a few years before Cebuanos can benefit from them. It would have been better if the previous administration had implemented massive infra projects in Cebu and the region to catch up with their fast economic growth.

Despite poor infrastructure, the region still managed to post robust economic growth. But it still needs modern highways, bridges, and mass transport systems if it wants to really compete with those other urban areas in the race to attract more investments.