CAGAYAN de Oro City (CDO) officials said on Tuesday, January 10, the city is well on its way to becoming a metropolis but said they are pleased with the renewed focus of President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic managers to transform the city into Metro Cagayan de Oro by 2025.
The National Economic Development Authority (Neda) uploaded Tuesday a draft of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022 in which Cagayan de Oro City is seen as becoming the next metropolitan center in the country because of projected population growth and its functional role as major gateway and transshipment hub in Northern Mindanao.
City Councilor George Goking, committee chair of trade and commerce, said he was not surprised with Neda’s projection.
“I agree with the statement, ang CDO bisan unsaon ug pugong sa kalambuan, ang business thrust naa gyud sa ato (no matter how CDO stops progress, the business thrust is with us),” he said.
Goking cited political stability as one of the factors why the city is developing.
“Just last year, naa ta bag-o nga gi-approve nga call center sa (we had a newly approved call center in) Limketkai area that will be made into an IT Park, just like Cebu’s. We approved it with the hope nga 80 percent of the jobs in this new company will be offered to the Kagay-anons,” Goking said.
“Atong na-obserbahan nga daghan na kaayong gapanganhi diri, daghay gapamalit ug yuta, kay nakita nila ang (We observed that many come here to buy land, because they see that) Cagayan de Oro will grow into a more developed city. Kami sad sa part sa mga councilors, ang paglakaw-lakaw namo dili man kini gasuroy-suroy, nagimbitar man mi sa mga investors nga muanhi ug mo-invest sa atong dakbayan (In our part as councilors, our trips are not for leisure but we are inviting investors to come and invest in our city),” Goking added.
City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWD) chief Teddy Sabuga-a said the projection should pose as a challenge for the city officials to do better.
Sabuga-a said although 2025 is eight years away, he said the actions made and projects implemented now will shape the future.
“Ang education is thrust man gyud ni Mayor Moreno, ug kita sa CSWD, naningkamot nga ma-promote ang education, for example kining mga street families and their children, atong gipaningkamotan nga maka-graduate sa high school because they are the human capital (Mayor Moreno’s thrust is education and we in CSWD are working hard to promote education, for example in street families and their children, we work hard for them to graduate high school),” he said.
“Sakto lang nga mag-invest kita sa edukasyon kay mao man kini ang mo-determine sa kalamboan sa syudad (It’s right to invest in education because this will determine the progress of the city),” he added.
With a population of 600,000, Cagayan de Oro otherwise known as the “City of Golden Friendship” is home to shopping malls and business process outsourcing (BPO) hubs.
In 2016, there are about 15 BPO companies operating in the city and are employing some 2,000 agents.
The number of jobs in these BPOs is projected to hit 5,000 this year.