A veteran architect and urban planner has underscored the need for national government funding to implement the Davao City Tourism Master Plan.

Architect Felino Palafox, who designed the Davao Waterfront, Davao City Chinatown, Eco-Tourism Adventure Park in Catigan, Eden, Toril, and Mountain Peak in Marilog, presented his master plan during the Canadian Chamber of Commerce-Mindanao event in Davao City.

Palafox said the designs he presented, which are part of the Davao City Tourism Master Plan, are long-term infrastructure projects that would require around P32 billion and would take 25 years to complete.

He said these projects would help attract more tourists.

Palafox added the master plan was turned over to the City Tourism and Operations Office in 2022, but he emphasized that it needs financial support from the national government to push through.

“We’ve turned it over the funding it cannot be just local funding there should be funding from the national government,” Palafox said.

Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) earlier said that big projects are possible without relying entirely on national funds.

Local governments may partner with the private sector through public-private partnership (PPP), a mechanism recently strengthened through the creation of the MinDA PPP Desk.

Palafox said that by 2050, around 100 million Filipinos are expected to live in urban areas, highlighting the need to invest in infrastructure and environmental planning to sustain the country’s growing population.

Meanwhile, Palafox stressed that corruption remains the biggest barrier to Mindanao’s development potential, which contributes significantly to the country’s economic growth.

“Mindanao has been suffering much of the corruption from imperial Metro Manila. I have to say that because I’ve been told that national funding especially infrastructure when it comes to Mindanao, a lot of it already is cannibalized by a lot of corruption in Metro Manila so without corruption I think without corruption our country can be in the top 20 economies in the world,” Palafox said.