Decentralizing development

As a region, the center of growth of Eastern Visayas is the City of Tacloban. From a geographic standpoint this is very apparent because Tacloban City is virtually in the middle of the region’s map and about 2 to 4 hours by land from the other cities. The other three cities of the region, Calbayog, Maasin and Ormoc do not come close in terms of economic activities and geographic centrality.

A key question is: how should these cities relate to each other?

The four cities should not compete with each other. The best approach is complementation with each one supporting the others.

The cities of Calbayog, Maasin and Ormoc can continue their functions and perform them better. Calbayog should continue to perform its trade functions and be the location of warehouses where goods from Manila can be stocked for distribution primarily to the Samar provinces. Ormoc can be the gateway to Cebu and Maasin the gateway to Mindanao. These cities facilitate the flow of goods and services to the region’s capital, Tacloban City.

Also, these three cities can help support agribusiness by providing inputs and, on the other hand, providing markets for agricultural products. They can become centers of agricultural development and agribusiness.

While Tacloban City is the location of large educational institutions, the other cities also have tertiary (college) education schools. This makes higher education accessible and affordable to a large portion of the regional population.

The growth of these cities will result in decentralizing development and in a network of cities performing roles that are beneficial to all.

The leaders of these cities must look at their respective jurisdictions in relation to other cities so that instead of competing they are able to help each other. They are doing this now but perhaps more can be done to strengthen their economic links with each other.