DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 1 March) – Three years short before ending in 2021, the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) is almost complete with the review of the 1996-2021 Comprehensive Development Plan this year.
CPDO head Ivan Cortez said in an interview on Tuesday that his office is waiting for the comments and suggestions from various sectors it consulted to further improve the draft of the CDP that will guide the city government in crafting development and investment policies and projects from 2018 to 2022.
He said they needed to update the 1996-2021 CDP, the basis for choosing projects, because “we are overtaken by events already,” rendering some of the projects listed in the plan obsolete while other necessary projects may not have been in the plan yet.
Five priority sectors consulted were infrastructure, economics, environment, governance, and social sector that provide inputs what programs and projects they want the City Government to focus on, Cortez said.
“The suggestions on programs and projects do not come from the city government. We just facilitated the discussions and consultations so that when there are projects that are not included in the CDP, they can’t blame 100 percent the government because they were consulted,” he said.
The CDP is the basis for the crafting of the Local Development Investment Plan, effective within the three-year term of Mayor Sara Duterte.
Among the biggest infrastructure projects in the 1996-2021 CDP that have been taking shape recently are the UP Mindanao Sports Complex and P34.5-billion Coastal Road Project, Cortez said.
He added that they would contemplate on the visions of the old CDP and work on improving its gaps in the implementation of the new CDP.
In the 194-page draft CDP, the city is envisioned as the “premier socio-economic, investment, tourism center in Mindanao, East ASEAN Growth Area (EAGA) and the Asia-Pacific Region propelled by enlightened leaders and empowered citizenry and committed to sustainable social growth and development, and economic growth without compromising the environment under the guidance of Divine Providence.”
While its mission statement is to “transform Davao City into a modern, vibrant, and a well-planned settlement and investment center in Mindanao and the Asia-Pacific region, propelled by socially enlightened leaders and empowered citizenry, spiritually committed to attain sustainable growth and optimum development within the context of balance ecology.” (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)