ZAMBOANGA CITY- City Mayor Beng Climaco spearheaded plans for establishment of metropolitan status making Zamboanga City the economic hub of Southwestern Mindanao in the next 10-15 years. As evident recently, economic activity in Zamboanga Peninusla is more pronounced in Zamboanga City, the de facto regional capital. From the biggest mall to the most expensive hotel, the city now offers what is best in the region.
The mayor noted that in preparation for such urban transformation, the city must tackle on cost of doing business and forge greater Public-Private-Partnereship. The Mindanao Development Framework recognized the city's role being the core city in a larger metropolitan area in the next several years. Recently, the city was hailed as one of the emerging BPO cities in the Philippines.
The Climaco administration will work hard to provide support to Information, Communication, and Technology roadmap (ICT Roadmap) of the city along with the strengthening of Geographic Information System (GIS). Other plans include the improvent of real property tax, assessment and collection system, completion of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan as well as the establishment of Business One Stop Shop (BOSS) Center and Invesment Promotion Center. The transfer of Zamboanga International Airport to Mercedes will also be tackled by a multi-agency task force which will be formed soon.
As of recently, the Philippines has twelve metropolitan areas as defined by National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). These are Metro Manila, Cebu, Angeles, Bacolod, Baguio, Dagupan, Iloilo, Naga, Olongapo, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao. Once approved, Metro Zamboanga will be the third metropolitan city in Mindanao after Davao and Cagayan de Oro.
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Photo credit to the owner. |
As to the cities and municipalities involved in the creation of Metro Zamboanga, there are no concrete report yet which will verify whether the city will be divided into smaller component cities or it will grouped together with nearby municipalities. Nevertheless Metro Zamboanga will be pursued as summarized in Mayor Beng Climaco's executive agenda for 2017-2019.
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Narrow streets along downtown Zamboanga City. Photo credit to the owner. |