An official of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) expressed optimism that the bill creating the Metropolitan Davao Development Authority (MDDA) aligns with the premise of emerging metropolises in Mindanao.
Romeo Montenegro, Assistant Secretary and Deputy Executive Director of MinDA, said the agency is closely keeping track of the progress of the MDDA in Congress, particularly in the Senate, which later on will have the mandate of pursuing planning and development undertaking with the Metro Davao area.
“We are seeing this as aligning with our long-term assumption of how metropolis is going to evolve and emerge in Mindanao in the next few years,” he said.
On January 18, 2022, the Senate approved on third and final reading House Bill No. 8930 seeking the creation of the MDDA.
The MDDA shall have jurisdiction over the core LGUs, namely, cities of Panabo, Tagum, and Island Garden City of Samal (IGACoS) in Davao del Norte; Digos in Davao del Sur; and highly urbanized City of Davao; and the municipalities of Carmen in Davao del Norte, and Sta. Cruz in Davao del Sur.
It can be recalled that on March 25, 2021, the House of Representatives passed House Bill 8930, “An Act Creating the Metropolitan Davao Development Authority (MDDA), Defining Its Powers and Functions, and Providing Funds Therefor”, which was authored by Congressman Isidro T. Ungab of Davao City’s Third District.
Montenegro said MDDA will aid Mindanaoans in terms of identifying specific strategies that had to be pursued in certain areas in Mindanao.
“As we have always highlighted through the Mindanao Corridors, there is no ‘one size fits all’ strategies in Mindanao and everything is incumbent with the peculiarity of the area and the nuances of the localities and therefore if we are looking at specific development directions and planning for Metro Davao, iba ito sa development direction that we should also be looking at the rural areas in Mindanao,” he added.
The said bill is also one of the initiatives of the Metropolitan Davao Development Coordinating Committee (MDDCC), which is a special committee under the Regional Development Council 11 (RDC 11) that is being chaired by Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
