ALL the costs of its property and economic development do not plunder the city's resources, ravage its environment, and marginalize further its poor and vulnerable sectors. Equally important, the proceeds of its development are flown back for the welfare, security, safety of the people and strengthen their sense of humanity.
Bacolod has already been in the radar, or let's say, priority map, of the national developers, investment houses, and not the least the big energy, water and utilities companies. Official updated assessment of Bacolod points so much to its great potentials to become a premier city. A large portion of its land property is still untapped, undeveloped, although these are now under mapping by developers and speculators.
It has a great stock of degree holder graduates because of great value given by most parents to education no matter how difficult life is. It has several technical and vocational schools which produce world class skilled workers as evidenced by annual evaluation and recruitment activities of national and multinational companies in top technical schools in the city. No less, Bacolod has hard working people with patience, dedication, humility and positive sense, qualities that ensure their high level of survival in a land of great ironies and contradictions, ruled by landed elites and warlords whose penchant for exploitation and oppression are often disguised in wicked benevolence.
Unfortunately, and obviously, the city leadership, from past administrations to the present, has been ill equipped to direct and manage the city's development in ways that its costs and proceeds are to its people's advantage and not to the developers and big businesses.
The city's land use plan and development plan are not updated, and its planning practice is reactive to the initiatives of the developers, contractors, speculators and investors. In some cases, its development plans are dictated by the vested interests of private land owners offering a small portion of their lands to the city as their way to boast the value of their land property and spur area development. And often the case, the pocket and retirement consideration of some politicians.
Worse, once the speculators and developers mapped and marked the lands for infrastructure and physical development, it is certain that the value of lands within the 3-5 kilometer radius would jack up several fold, thus make them more unaffordable to the middle to bottom of the pyramid, and push further to the periphery the informal sector. And there is no ordinance or resolution safeguarding the land value of the city from skyrocketing, because all that the city government cares is its increased revenues from real property tax.
It has also been reported that a number of developers are not compliant with RA 10884, their obligations to give certain percentage of their total project costs, subdivision or condominium, to socialized housing, and or other projects that would benefit the poor in the city. Strangely, per the same reports, without compliance they're still able to secure construction permits by the city.
Another is the Bredco port, occupying 300 hectares or more reclaimed area, which the City Government has outsourced to a private capitalist to develop with a rental fee considered in the industry as very cheap, almost a giveaway. After three decades or so, BREDCO port is now earning billions a year so they say, a huge amount to spur massive and inclusive development of the city. The 25 years contract is about to end this year but I heard this was reportedly renewed in advanced just before the 2019 May elections. If indeed true, really a big loss to the city and its people.
As I said, Bacolod possesses huge potentials to become a model of a livable premier city whose costs and proceeds of development can truly transform the city and its people to a life of prosperity, security and safety with dignity. This is only possible however when the city has a leadership with strong sense of humanity, participatory and democratic, sense of integrity and moral ascendancy, strong political will to enforce or improve the law and not to be controlled by big vested interests, and a leadership equipped with capacities to chart and spur development that really makes its people humane and not for any other consideration.
The city should not follow the development models of Manila or Cebu because they have already reached a dead end. They are pacmans and zombies, unrelenting in devouring resources with no or less regard to environmental conditions and of humanity. They are models of market-driven and profit-oriented mindset of big developers and capitalists.
Bacolod can work out a model that is not only integrative, inclusive and transformative for its own, but one that is also sensitive to and caring for the internal migrants constantly displaced by worsening land grabbing and resource plunder, dying sugar industry, mining, war and militarization in the rural areas. Bacolod has always been the top absorber of people displaced from rural areas, and those migrating to cities to look for the so-called greener pasture.
Once more, I challenge Mayor Bing Leonardia to seriously consider these points, with open mind and heart. I know the fellow is a visionary man. But he needs a strong, honest, multi-disciplinary and passionate team, not the cloak and dagger operators, who can truly give him the much needed and best support to thread a new development course.
And as a national president of the Mayors League of the Philippines, Mayor Bing is in the best position to bring in the best minds and practices from other LGUs and fuse them with the city's best. Forget about awards and other accolades. Focus only on targets and tasks that matter most to Bacolodnon.
If done right, well and good, to dream of a Bacolod City that is truly livable, is not far from reality.