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Monday, August 22, 2005
Hebrona: 22 good things about Gensan
By Bronx Hebrona
Mind Your Business
THE insights below are from my high school classmate, Gwyn Clarisa, who is now working in a bank in Davao City. So much negative perception has been said about Gen. Santos City and the SOCSKSARGEN region that we tend to miss out on the positive, promising things about our place. Gwyn shares with us 22 of such good things about Gensan:
1. For 2004, the country's estimated corn production reached 5 Million metric tons. Of which 1.9MM metric tons came from Southern Mindanao and 950,000 metric tons came from the SOCSKSARGEN Area. Estimated annual gross revenue from corn production in SOCSKSARGEN reached P9.0 Billion in 2004.
2. The tuna industry in General Santos contributes around 4% of the country's Gross National Product (GNP).
3. Our city is blessed with dynamic and active businessmen who do their share in promoting the city and generating much needed business activities in the area. In fact, our business sector started the now popular Tuna Festival. Seeing how effective the festival is in promoting business and tourism in the area, the local government extended its support on its second year and adopted the festival as their own and included it as one of their important activities every year.
In 2003, the festival committee invited then Department of Tourism Secretary, Richard Gordon, to observe the festival. What impressed Senator Gordon then is the involvement of the business community and their desire and commitment to help. The festival is now a regular activity of the DOT and is included in its yearly calendar of activities for WOW Philippines.
Senator Gordon participated in most activities including the "Disco sa Kalye Night" where more than ten thousand people participated and no untoward incident happened. This prompted Senator Gordon to promote to the world that General Santos is a safe place to live and invest in. And that the perceived peace and order problem is just that, perception. Until now he's still doing that.
4. Our airport is one of the best in the country and is of international standards. Our runway is simply the best in the country. Constructed under American standards, it is also the safest as its runway boasts of a smooth surface unlike most of our airports including NAIA. When landing from the seaside, the runway seems to float as it is built on a higher and elevated plain guaranteeing a safe and very comfortable landing.
5. The Philippine Air Lines can fly its GenSan to Manila route without worrying on how many passengers would actually fly with them. That is because the amount of cargo that goes out of General Santos can compensate for the lack of passengers that fly with them. I'm not saying they lack the passengers but the point is, there's just so much products that comes from our city to Manila. That means that a lot of our local produce goes to Manila and there are just a lot of products here. Merong negosyo sa ating lugar.
6. Mindanao is FMD (foot-and-mouth-disease) free and is Bird Flu Virus free. That means our livestock and poultry industries remain unaffected by these animal-borne diseases. SOCSKSARGEN is home to the country's biggest piggery in terms of sow level. We also contribute about 20% of the country's livestock and poultry requirements.
7. We are the best next to Northern Mindanao in terms of layer/broiler breeding. Most companies like San Miguel, RFM, Vitarich and Bounty Agro locate their breeding farms in SOCSKSARGEN if not in Northern Mindanao. Second also to Roxas City in terms of shrimp production.
Navotas used to rank First in terms of actual tonnage in Fish Landings per day. We were only second to them. There's not much business now in Navotas given that most sardines maker relocated to the Zamboanga Peninsula while we maintained our volume. Note that the Sardines industry contributes about 4% also of our GNP. We are a sardines-loving nation and General Santos City supplies around 30% of the industry's fish requirements.
(To be continued)
(You may write Bronx Hebrona at P.O. Box 46430, Gen. Santos City 9500, or email him at binex@asia.com. He hosts Radyo Negosyo, a weekly radio program that promotes entrepreneurship and financial literacy, every Sunday at 9-10 am over DXBB AM (RGMA Superadyo) at 1107 KHz. He is President-Convenor of the Socsargen Financial Intelligence Network, Inc., which promotes financial literacy and entrepreneurship in the region)
For Bisaya stories from General Santos.Click here. (This section is updated every Monday)
(August 22, 2005 issue)
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