Saturday, August 11, 2007 Ledesma: Kapalong not yet a capital By Jun Ledesma Sunbursts
KAPALONG, a rich agricultural town in Davao del Norte, is far from becoming the capital of the province yet. It's possible but not this early yet. There are a number of things which will interplay before this dream can be realized. It's a long shot, futuristic but still the possibility is not remote. Let us look at how this will evolve.
Tagum City is fast becoming a highly urbanized city. This means that it can wean itself from the province and will be a distinct political subdivision. Right now it is part of the first congressional district of Davao. If it graduates into a highly urbanized city then it will have its own distinct congressional district. Once it will have a charter of its own, then the province will have to have a new capital. I am not very keen of how this comes about, but am looking at the relation of Davao City to Davao del Sur. Being highly urbanized with a charter of its own, Davao City had been cut from the umbilical cord of the province. As a consequence thereof
Digos became the capital of Davao del Sur. Kapalong enjoys better preference than Panabo City because of its location. If Tagum City is eventually spin out of Davao del Norte, the centrally located town will be Kapalong.
With the eventual opening of the Davao-Bukidnon highway, Kapalong will be the new growth center of the province and that will make the town more dynamic in terms of development of trade and commerce.
As I said this is futuristic but not actually remote in the sense that all the aspects that I have cited here are not impossible to accomplish. In fact the political and economic evolutions are actually happening now. The major road network in the province including that of the Davao-Bukidnon artery is either accomplished or presently being implemented, which means that within this decade we might actually see a new capital town for Davao del Norte.
This plan is politically correct since the transfer of the capital to another town will spearhead a new economic activity. I will not fault the provincial leadership if it pursues this objective. Governor Dolfo del Rosario looks at this in his savvy corporate management of the province. In this same way, Tagum City Mayor Rey "CO" Uy is steering the city into becoming an urbanized metropolis. The emergence of new growth centers in the province augurs well for Tagum. There is so much dynamism between these two political leaders that we will see the transformation in the province going faster than what some people can possibly imagine.
BTW, I received a number of feedbacks from my readers on the piece I had on the proposed Truancy Ordinance. I think the most emotional reaction I got came from a mother who emotionally confessed that his son is so hooked to video games in the malls that no matter what and how they counsel their son these all fell on deaf ears. It has come to a point that their son not only ignores their advice, he developed a contempt against them. Her son already missed one school year. She had enrolled her again but to her dismay, she discovered that he is back again to the internet cafes and video joints.
Another reader agreed to my idea of deleting games software and closing the electronic video machines during school days. He also said that these establishments are not issuing receipts anyway so the city government does not earn any revenue from them. He said that with all the troubles that these establishments are causing, like abetting truancy, why not City Hall train the gun at them?
So there you are. I hope City Councilor Mabel Acosta will be able to push through with the approval of this local bill for you will make a lot of parents happy.
(For reaction, email me at scledesmajr@yahoo.com.)
