Editorial: Choosing well

DAVAO City lacks economic zones, an official of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) says.

Peza promotion and public relations group manager Elmer San Pascual said the country has 268 economic zones of which only six are in Davao City, thus he is calling on the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. to apply for accreditation.

That’s interesting to know, as we look at the ever changing skyline of the city, to realize that all these investments are not even making use of incentives; they are simply coming here to do business.

This is where it helps for city officials add development planners to really put their heads together to make sense of this growth that the city is experiencing; and to make sure that the investment that come in are those that stand to benefit the greater good of the city and its people.

We’re not saying we should turn to snobs, we’re saying that we should be choosy.

The people are coming with their investments because of Davao’s climate, environment, and yes, relatively cheap cost of living.

The relatively cheap cost of living is sustained because of availability of food. Remove the food component, everything will jack up. We are after all in the same boat as Metro Manila and Cebu and all other big cities and metropolises in the country that have to contend with continuous rise in cost of energy and gasoline. It is just the bounty we are enjoying that is making life easy here. Remove that, we are just like everyone else -- cramp, overpopulated, and starving.

This also means taking care of the areas that bring us our food. The neighboring areas that ensure our rice supply, and our hinterland areas that bring in our vegetables and meat, and our seas that bring in our fishes.

Yes, Davao indeed lacks economic zones, but that doesn’t mean we will open our doors to just about everyone with nary a second look at how these will affect our environment and our food security. Anyway, we are at a position to choose, let us choose well.