Geographia Technica, Vol 14, Special Issue 2019, pp. 66-75

URBANIZING SOUTHWARDS: PLANNING DEVELOPMENT POSSIBILITIES FOR MINDANAO, THE PHILIPPINES, AS A SOCIOPOLITICAL SIDE OF GEOTECHNICS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

José Edgardo GOMEZ, Jr (Manila, Philippines)

DOI: 10.21163/GT_2019.141.20

ABSTRACT: Riding a wave of popular dissatisfaction with traditional politicians, a majority of the Philippine population elected as President the tough-talking Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City last 2016—the first chief executive from the “frontier area” of Mindanao, a bountiful land of mixed Christian, Muslim, and indigenous tribal populations—and a major island which he promised to prioritize, refocusing development away from the northern capital of Manila. Taken together with integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), at least on formal paper agreements, the development of the southern Philippines becomes a logical and practical priority. This research surveys and analyzes the emerging policies and key national-level planning documents that signal the shift of infrastructure and transport linkages to Mindanao, with an eye towards possible trade-related enhancements with northern Indonesia and Malaysia. It critically examines what government proposes (or is already building), and shows where decisions appear to be correct, as well as where they seem ambiguous, or even inappropriate and thus unlikely to succeed, especially in the way sociopolitical aspects complement geospatial techniques. It is argued how a turn southward is probably in the best interests both of social equity inside the state, and cross-country benefits for the Philippines and its ASEAN neighbors.


Keywords: ASEAN integration, Infrastructure, Mindanao, Philippines, Geographic links.

Full article here