I spent last weekend in Davao City. I have not been there in years and was curious how six years of Duterte in control of confidential funds in the billions have improved the city’s infrastructure and overall feel.
Not much.
Indeed, the airport, which is supposedly international, looks old and provincial. It could use a new coat of paint. An airport is like a businessman’s calling card… it gives a lasting first impression for visiting potential investors.
It was in a list of airports that was part of a PPP package approved by the PNoy-era DOTr that Art Tugade inherited. From what I recall, the package to rehabilitate regional airports, including Davao’s, was scuttled when politicians intervened.
A prominent Davao political and business leader reacting to my observation said the current airport still serves its purpose. But that’s not the point. We should be planning for the future.
That sounds like PNoy. He rejected a proposal to upgrade the Clark airport terminal as designed by a French firm, supposedly because the capacity was too large. Duterte and Tugade built the new Clark airport within Duterte’s term and it is something to be proud of.
The Davao airport is busy. Cebu Pacific alone has multiple flights there… eight daily from Manila, five from Cebu, five weekly from CDO, three weekly from Siargao, Bohol, and Bacolod.
Then there are also similar numbers of flights from the other airlines. Cebu Pacific and Scoot, the budget airline of Singapore Airlines, have direct flights to Singapore.
Road traffic in Davao City is almost like Metro Manila’s, with the added disadvantage that there are no plans for mass transit that it already needs. The government must plan for growth before growth happens rather than trying to catch up with growth.
The good news about Davao, though, is its huge potential for feeding the country. Indeed, if our agriculture officials only focused their sights on Mindanao, we should be able to get some amount of food security.
The fertile volcanic soil from Mt. Apo is good for many crops, specially high value crops that could boost our agricultural exports. With bananas suffering from a serious fungus infestation, its growth as an export crop will continually decline. We need a replacement export crop.
A local businessman who sells greenhouses told us that the most promising cash crop today is durian… a special high-quality kind of durian in high demand in the Southeast Asian region and China. He was on his way to Kuala Lumpur to finalize arrangements for investments to cultivate durian for export.
I asked what can be done with the idled 1,000 hectares of land that used to be the banana plantation of the late Datu Toto Paglas. I was told it can be converted to durian, but it will take at least five years before harvesting can start.
The other cash crop they are getting good demand for now is avocado. They have started growing avocados for export. When I asked why not send some to Manila, I was told it is too expensive to send produce to Manila. They earn more by exporting from Davao.
Coffee and cacao are the other promising crops. I visited the Malagos farm and processing center, and was impressed with what has been achieved by the Puentespina family. Their farm is now a tourist site where they show how they process the now world famous and multi-awarded Malagos chocolate bars and other products.
They have a good museum that tells us the history of the place and how they developed their chocolate products into a recognizable international brand. Their packaging design is also world class, which makes their chocolates appropriate gifts this Christmas.
Indeed, we do not have a good excuse not to patronize a proudly made Filipino product anymore. It is good chocolate that is as good if not better than imported brands, and it is 100 percent Filipino -- from the cacao plant to the packaged product. I have found it at SM Kultura, but not at Robinson’s.
Malagos is not the only chocolate brand out of Davao. At the Poblacion Mall in the city, we came across a booth selling Rosario’s chocolate bars. The packaging is not as good as Malagos, but the product is good too… and it uses organic coconut sugar… good news for those watching their sugar intake.
Then, of course, the best reason to visit Davao is the seafood. We had our fill of some of the best seafood. We had our first gastronomic feast at the Marina tuna restaurant. Then it was at Café Tavera the next evening, which was even better.
I can just imagine the potential of the region in aquaculture. I heard the biggest and most successful private enterprise is the one owned by Paul Dominguez. Their Sarangani bangus brand is known nationally. I have to talk to him about his success strategies.
Of course, we still have some of the best pineapples being grown by Dole at the foot of Mt. Matutum in South Cotabato. Then there is Bukidnon with the potential for vegetables and fruits that thrive in a cooler and higher area.
After hearing all about the agricultural and aquacultural potentials of the region, there should be no reason why the autonomous Muslim region shouldn’t prosper if given the right support. But then again, it depends on the local leadership in the end.
It took the kind of leadership of the late Datu Toto Paglas to bring prosperity in his war-torn area through bananas. Too bad he died early and a fungus invaded the plantation. But they should move quickly and plant durian to benefit from rising demand, specially from China.
When I was in high school over 60 years ago, our teacher in Philippine geography talked of Mindanao as the land of promise. Sadly, all we got are promising politicians who exploited its natural resources without giving back to the people.
The fast growth of the population will soon bring things to a head. Toto Paglas observed that people with full stomachs don’t cause trouble. He proved it and we only have to follow his model.
Boo Chanco’s email address is bchanco@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco