Davao, not Cagayan de Oro, still Mindanao’s biggest economy

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Northern Mindanao’s Regional Development Council (RDC) has debunked a viral social media claim that Cagayan de Oro City has overtaken Davao City as the fastest-growing economic and financial hub in Mindanao.

The RDC issued an advisory in response to a post circulating on social media that claimed Cagayan de Oro had surpassed Davao, advising the public to rely on verified data and credible sources for accurate information.

The false claim, first posted on June 18, was traced to the unverified Facebook page “United and Progressive Philippines.” It read: “Cagayan de Oro overtook Davao City as the fastest-economic and financial hub of Mindanao, Philippines. Northern Mindanao has a more reasonable level of regulation and a business-friendly system than any other region in Mindanao.”

The Facebook page did not disclose or cite the data source to back up these claims.

The RDC said the government monitors the economic performance of the country, its regions, provinces, and highly urbanized cities through the Philippine System of National Accounts (PSNA).

An example of an economic indicator under the PSNA is the gross domestic product (GDP), which includes national, regional, and provincial product accounts (PPA).

Based on the 2022 release of the PPA by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Cagayan de Oro’s GDP or PPA grew by 9.4% at constant 2018 prices from 2021, compared to Davao’s 8.9%.

However, in terms of value, Davao posted a GDP output of P495 billion at constant 2018 prices, compared to Cagayan de Oro’s P262 billion.

Based on the 2022 PSA data, Cagayan de Oro posted a per capita GDP at constant 2018 prices of P344,000, compared to Davao’s P259,000.

Citing other metrics based on the results of the 2023 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) released by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Davao emerged as the 6th most competitive highly urbanized city in the country, followed by Cagayan de Oro which ranked 7th.

“We would like to highlight that there are other indicators that measure economic performance and development of a country, region, province, and highly urbanized city. Hence, we encourage everyone to take social media posts with prudence through fact-checking and citing credible sources,” read part of the RDC advisory.

Oxford index

Officials said Cagayan de Oro’s outranking of Davao in the Oxford Economics Global Cities Index 2024 could have spurred the posting of the false claim.

The index, which showed the ranking of 1,000 cities around the world, was conducted by an Oxford, England-based economic advisory firm that used five broad categories: economics, human capital, quality of life, environment, and governance. Most weight was given to economic factors such as GDP and employment growth.

Oxford Economics said its index provides a consistent framework for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the largest 1,000 cities across the world, and when coupled with their forecasts, enables organizations and policymakers to make more informed strategic decisions.

Four metropolitan areas in the Philippines all rated in the upper half of the cities ranked: Manila (256), Cebu (436), Cagayan de Oro (487), and Davao (500).

Of the 55 Southeast Asian cities included in the index, Cagayan de Oro was the highest-ranked city in Mindanao (26), with only Manila (4) and Cebu (18) ranked higher. Other Mindanao cities included in the group were Davao (29), Zamboanga (48), and General Santos (51).

Overall, Cagayan de Oro ranked best in environment (338), followed by economics (450), human capital (514), and quality of life (626).

Infrastructure spending

National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Regional Director Mylah Faye Aurora Cariño, RDC-X co-chairperson, said infrastructure spending will be the main growth driver in Northern Mindanao over the medium term covering the 2024-2028 period.

Based on data from the RDC’s infrastructure and utilities development committee, Northern Mindanao has been allocated the most number of infrastructure flagship projects for “region-specific” projects after the National Capital Region (NCR) in recognition of its position as the country’s fourth emerging metropolitan area.

It has 15 of the 133 region-specific projects listed for an 11.3% share of the total, or 8.1% of the total infrastructure flagship projects listed, including the 15 nationwide and 24 inter-regional projects. The P397.41 billion projects for Northern Mindanao account for 4.3% of the P9.143 trillion total of the country’s 185 listed infrastructure flagship projects for the period. – Rappler.com