Metro Davao

Metro Davao Kalakhang Dabaw Kadakhang Dabaw Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de Davao
—  Metropolitan Area  —
Metropolitan Davao
Map of Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur showing the location of Metro Davao
Country	Philippines
Region	Davao Region (Region XI)
Province(s) Covered	Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur
Area
• Land	4,041.39 km2 (1,576.14 sq mi)
Population (2010)
• Total	2,274,913
Time zone	PST (UTC+8)

Metro Davao, offically called Metropolitan Davao (Tagalog: Kalakhang Dabaw; Cebuano: Kadakhang Dabaw; Spanish/Chabacano:Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de Davao), is an agglomeration of Davao City and four surrounding cities: Digos City in Davao del Sur, Tagum City, Panabo City and the Island Garden City of Samal in Davao del Norte. The metropolitan area also encompasses two municipalities: Carmen in Davao del Norte and Santa Cruz in Davao del Sur. It is one of twelve defined metropolitan areas in the Philippines, other big ones being Metro Cebu and Metro Manila. However, unlike other metropolitan areas, Metro Davao does not have a formal legal framework, such as a metropolitan development council (although it has a de facto one) to stand on, existing not as a juridical entity but only as an informal reference to the area.

History

Comparison to Other Philippines' Metropolitan Regions

The agglomeration of Metro Davao has no formal legal framework early on its initial stage of development process either by an act of Congress, by an executive declaration of the President or by a formal agreement among component cities and municipalities of the metropolitan area.

In the case of Metro Manila, the component cities and municipalities were grouped into a province through a [decree issued by then-President Ferdinand Marcos, and designated the former first lady Imelda Marcos as governess. From then on, Greater Manila, as it was known earlier, became Metro Manila.

To formalize its juridical identity, Congress passed into law Republic Act No. 7924, instituting the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. Under the current law, the head of the agency shall be appointed by the President and should not be on a concurrent elected position as mayor.

Metro Cebu is a concept created in the 70's and formally adopted by the Regional Development Council of Central Visayas as a platform for integrating parallel development in the metropolitan area.

Formation of the Metropolitan Area

Although Metro Davao was formed in 1995 by mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the mayor of Davao City at that time, it does not have the birth perspective of either Metro Cebu or Metro Manila. The metropolitan concept of Metro Davao is being spearheaded by the mayor but no formal agreement or an act of congress have been executed to formalize its legal and juridical identity.

Government

Metro Davao, just like Metro Manila and Metro Cebu, is not an administrative political unit but an agglomeration of independent local government units (LGUs), the third level government in the Philippine political system. However, it already has its three own governance councils, namely: Davao Integrated Development Program Board, Metropolitan Davao Committee, and Metropolitan Davao Management Office. As of now, although the establishment of its own real development council is yet to be taken place, the Davao Integrated Development Program Board serves as the metropolitan area's de facto metropolitan development council.

Definitions of Metro Davao

Metro Davao has taken on three identical geographical definitions, namely:

• The metropolitan area is synonymous with Davao City itself, since the city is one of the largest cities in the world by land area and its land area encompasses as more than six times the size of Metro Manila and almost four times the size of Metro Cebu.

• The metropolitan area encompasses Davao City and, not counting their provinces, its adjoining cities and towns of Tagum, Panabo, Digos, and Island Garden City of Samal, Carmen, and Sta. Cruz.

• The metropolitan area refers to Davao City and its nearby four provinces, namely: Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental.

Notes

Component Local Government Units

Local government unit	Population (2010 LGPMS Census)	Area (km²)
Davao City	1,464,301	2,444 km²
Digos City	159,569	287.1 km²
Island Garden City of Samal	90,291	301.3 km²
Panabo City	164,035	251.23 km²
Tagum City	233,254	195.00 km²
Carmen	63,636	275.16 km²
Santa Cruz	77,827	287.6 km²
TOTAL	2,274,913	4041.39 km²

Geography and Demographics

The metropolitan area has 4041.39 km², making it one of the two most area-wise largest metropolitan areas in the Philippines, the other being Metro Cagayan de Oro; it also has a population of 2,274,913 in the combined population sizes of the local government units that make up the metropolitan area during the 2010 LGPMS Census, making it as the third most populous metropolitan area in the country after Metro Manila and Metro Cebu, and the most populous in the entire Mindanao island.

However, as based on geographical studies, only about 12% of the portion of its land area accounts for its urban area, the rest are rural; yet, almost 80% percent of the population live in the urban areas, primarily at Davao City, Tagum City, and Digos City. Thus, the metropolitan area centered around Davao City is considered as urban.

Economy

The economy of Metro Davao is one of the largest in the country and the most economically active in Mindanao. Davao City, its metropolitan center, is known as the Crown Jewel of Mindanao because it is the premier city, the financial and trade center, and hub of Mindanao. It also has has the greatest economic activity, population, urban build-up and modern amenities in Mindanao, and is the single most important economy in the island as well as the third most important urban center in the Philippines. It is also the largest city in the BIMP-EAGA Economic Circle, a subregional economic cooperation initiative in Southeast Asia. Current revenue statistics show Davao City to be the fifth-richest city in the Philippines in terms of local income and IRA - the only city outside greater Manila in the top five. Davao City also has a gross domestic product (GDP) of Php 21,914,645,328, or Php 15,696 per capita based on regional survey as of year 2009.

Tagum City, from being a predominantly agricultural area, has become Mindanao's fastest-rising urban city due to its strategic location, being in the crossroads between the rural areas of Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley and at the urban Metropolitan Davao itself.

List of Cities in Metro Davao by Annual Income

City/Town	Annual Income as of 2010	Classification
Davao City	Php 4,262,295,506.45	Highly-urbanized City
Tagum City	Php 839,245,557.22	1st class city
Digos City	Php 499,054,265.00	1st class city
Panabo City	Php 468,500,000.00	1st class city
Island Garden City of Samal	Php 387,166,113.86	2nd class city
Sta. Cruz	Php 138,097,326.25	1st class town
Carmen	Php 100,912,416.97	1st class town
Total	Php 6,695,271,185.75

International Trade and Exports

Ever since Davao City became an international net exporter in 1987, it began exporting fruits and vegetables both domestically and internationally. Because of the huge income generated from the exporting of fruits and vegetables, Davao City has become the third most largest economy in the Philippines and the single most important economy in Mindanao. More than ten years later, several cities in Davao Region like Tagum, Panabo, and Digos followed suit with Davao City for the expanding economy of the region as well as for Metro Davao itself.

• Davao City itself is known as the Fruit Basket of the Philippines since the city is one of the world's leading producers and exporters of durian, mangoes, pomeloes, banana, coconut products, papaya, mangosteen, and even flowers. The city's rich fertile volcanic soil makes it most suitable for sustained production of the freshest and tastiest tropical fruits in the Philippines. Since the fruits are locally produced in the city, the prices are comparably much cheaper than anywhere in the country. Davao City is also known as the Durian and Mangosteen Capital of the Philippines since these fruits were locally cultivated mostly in this city and are sold and exported for both home and abroad.

• Panabo City is also known as the Banana Capital of the Philippines due to numerous banana plantations scattered throughout the city. In fact, Panabo is the home of the world’s biggest banana plantation, which is owned by the Tagum Agricultural Development Company (TADECO), which covers around 6,900 hectares of banana fields and produce millions of boxes of export-quality bananas annually. The city itself cultivated 40% of its land or around 10,000 hectares into planting export-quality bananas, which is better known as "Cavendish Bananas". Thus, banana cultivation and exportation are the main source of income in the city.

• Digos City is known as The City of Sweet Mangoes because of its mangoes being locally cultivated in the city. Mangoes cultivated from the city were also exported abroad via the Davao International Seaport in Davao City.

Facilities

The presence of basic infrastructure within Davao City such as airport, seaports, roads, bridges, telecommunications, condominiums, malls and first class hotels has sustained the economic growth in the last 10 years. Due to the city's unprecedented growth, a clamor for higher capacity infrastructures resulted to a number of modernization projects now ongoing to meet the demands of the new millennium.

Airport

The international airport in Davao City, Davao City International Airport, is the largest and most developed in Mindanao, has the second longest runway in the island, and the third most busiest in the country, after Ninoy Aquino International Airport] and Mactan-Cebu International Airport. It can handle both domestic and international flights, serving several flights to Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, and as far as Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul, South Korea, Manado, Indonesia, and Bangkok, Thailand; it is the only airport in the island to handle flights like these. Its ATC Tower is the most advanced in the country. The airport serves as the main international gateway to the entire Mindanao island and as well as Metro Davao.

Seaport

Three of the four main seaports operate in Metro Davao, namely: Sasa International Seaport in Sasa and Sta. Ana Pier in the Chinatown District, both in Davao City; and Panabo Seaport in Davao del Norte. The former two, both of which are located in Port of Davao in Davao City, can service both interisland and international shipments. Sasa International Container Port, also located in the Davao International Seaport, is the busiest in the entire Visayas-Mindanao region.

Media

Davao City, having over a million night-time population and an estimated 4 million day-time population is home to many media outlets. Large media networks like ABS-CBN Broadcasting Network, GMA Network, Inc., ABC5, National Broadcasting Network, and RPN9 maintain their respective local stations and branches for viewership, commercial and news coverage purposes. Most of these stations broadcast local news and public affairs as well as entertainment and dramas to cater the local viewers.

Moreover, there are cable television operations in the city offering for a free worldwide array of television stations for news, sports, science and technology, movies and documentaries, history and natural sciences, action and sci-fi, lifestyle and fashion, cartoons and children's shows, entertainment and showbiz-oriented programs and more.

Aside from the 24 national daily newspapers available, Davao City also has 20 local newspapers. Among the widely-read are the Sun Star Davao and Mindanao Times. The country's main Islamic news journal, The Voice of Islam, was founded in 1973 and published in this city.