DAVAO CITY—The reelected mayor of the acknowledged “Tuna Capital of the Philippines” would want to update the city’s land-use plan, as the city government continues to enjoy an economic boom.
Mayor Ronnel C. Rivera said he wanted the plan to be updated as a priority activity on his second term as mayor, along with finding and providing services in the relocation sites.
He also set his eyes on improving the services of the city hospital.
Rivera added that the city’s land-use plan would “be vital for attracting investors and different businesses to come to General Santos.”
Alongside with updating the plan is to craft a comprehensive transport plan to avoid the dilemma of vehicular-traffic congestion.
Rivera’s second term would face the challenge of a booming economy tied with its tuna and fish-landing businesses.
The number of new businesses that invested in General Santos City had recovered from the global crisis in 2013, when the city only had 816 new business registrations. That was a sharp drop from the 1,242 registrations the previous year and 1,326 in 2011. By 2014, business confidence went up anew, with 1,446 registrations.
This was complemented with the increase of business renewals, from 7,848 in 2013 to 8,064 the following year.
These businesses—mostly micro, small and medium enterprises—have employed around 91,000 individuals, the City Economic Management and Cooperative Development Office said.
Its economic climb was also noticed and lauded by the annual Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index, when it ranked the city 17th place last year among the highly urbanized cities. The National Competitiveness Council of the Philippines said 142 urbanized cities competed in that survey last year.
General Santos City earned P1.24 billion in 2013.
The growth is expected to surge further, after it stabilized since last year the crippling electricity shortage besetting Mindanao. It has established several sources of diesel-fired generation plants, including the coal plant in nearby Sarangani province.
