THE REAL estate property development sector is undoubtedly the most robust participant in Davao City’s growing economy. This is pretty obvious since the proofs are all there for everybody to see –malls, condominiums, hotels, subdivisions, townhouses, resorts, entertainment enclaves and sundry other horizontal and vertical structures that have risen from every nook and cranny of the city.
Yet not all of the major players in the country’s property development industry have come to the city. To be sure, we are not yet experiencing the flurry of construction activities happening within and around metropolitan Manila, activities that spawn both pleasant and unpleasant problems to urban living.
The boom in the building industry is reflected in the the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ recent report that nationwide in the first half of 2011 alone, consumer loans mostly residential estate loans grew 15.1 percent to P500 billion.
Indeed, the construction sector continues to be a leading driver of the Philippine economy. It is very much so in the case of Davao’s economy. Dabawenyos will continue to enjoy the benefits that a strong economy brings in terms of employment and livelihood. This will raise the people’s purchasing power that in turn enables them to send their children to school, cover expenses in health and other social services and later engage in small-scale business ventures with their extra income.
One glaring effect of growth and development is the increase of a local city government unit’s tax collections. An example of this is the more than P11 billion that the city of Cebu earns every year, compared to the P4-billion yearly income of Davao City, despite the fact that Davao is a lot bigger than Cebu in area and population.
In order to parry the downside and the social costs of a rapidly expanding construction industry admittedly we need to learn the lessons that the experience of other places offer. The country’s laws that are in place provide enough safeguards against unsound practices that put the safety and order of the community at risk. Indeed. the rules of the game are all there for honest-to-goodness enforcers to implement without fear or favor and those charged with crafting local policies to conscientiously observe and address the identified challenges.
With all these in mind, we dedicate the supplement in this edition to all the players and stakeholders in the property sector.
