The Charms of Sustainable Cagayan de Oro City

If I were to choose a city that I would consider sustainable, I would choose one from my own country, the Philippines.  I would consider Cagayan de Oro City (CDO) as the one, like no other.  I have been to many cities here or have read about what the other cities have to offer, but it is in the entirety of Cagayan de Oro that I find truly sustainable.

For a brief description of the place, Cagayan de Oro, or CDO for short, is the capital city of Misamis Oriental Province.  From history books, the city is regarded as the Golden City of Friendship for reasons it aptly applied.  Today, the people seem to live up to what they have known for.  The place is a sprawling industrializing zone on the north-central coast of the island of Mindanao, serving as a major gateway to the Visayan islands to the north. The city is bounded on the north by the Macabalan Bay, on the south by the Provinces of Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur, on the east by the Municipality of Tagoloan, and on the west by the Municipality of Opol. In Region 10, Cagayan de Oro is the hub of development, with trading and service sectors contributing about 50% of total investment of the province.

The geographical location of the city makes it the only city in this country that is not susceptible to natural calamities as typhoons.  Heavy rains do fall in this city but never to the point that it ruins the entire city as it does to other typhoon stricken areas.  Cagayan de Oro generally enjoys a fair weather all year round with occasional heavy rains during season months.

In the many occasions that I have been to this place both in the distant past and in the present, it seems the city retains the serenity that it offers.  So unlike in other cities where it becomes so crowded already in the passing of years, one will be surprised to feel and see that CDO does not.  You will see one improvement after another , but the touch of rural aura remains.  The rurban (rural and urban) atmosphere in this city is the one that draws me closely to this place.   Urbanized without loosing the rural appeal.

As far as prices of basic commodities in this city particularly fish, vegetables and fruits are concerned, CDO enjoys the cheapest and freshest find.  This is made possible by its proximity to the areas that produce this stuff. Vegetables and fruits normally come from nearby tropical Bukidnon while fish produce on the other hand from nearby locations as Zamboanga, Cotabato and/or GenSan aside from CDOs own produce.

While CDO is a big part of Mindanao, home of our Muslim brothers, it is perhaps the only city in Mindanao that is not bothered by our Muslim brothers terrorists’ group that terrorizes Zamboanga, Cotabato, Maguindanao and other terrorists stricken areas nearby. On the contrary, Muslim dwellers here are more civilized and their presence is more about doing legitimate business.  It is similarly the geographical location of the city  that makes it hard for Muslim terrorists like Abu Sayaf to stage terrorist attempt to this city.

Some years back, Cagayan de Oro was chosen as one of the three demonstration cities of the local –Environmental Planning and Management for a particular program financially supported by the United Nations Development Programme  (UNDP) and UN-HABITAT, that aimed to enhance the sustainability of the cities involved.  Its inclusion is based on a selection process conducted by the Project Steering Committee (PSC), Inter-Agency Technical Group (IA-TWG) and the Project Management Coordinating Unit (PMCU).  The cities involved commits to enhance the city government’s capabilities by pioneering the integration of environmental planning and management within the city organization. As the said sustainable Cagayan de Oro Project (ScdOP) ended in the first quarter of 2002 with a clear amount of success, the second phase of support project was forged again in 2005.

Among the key environmental issues and developmental projects  are: a) Solid Waste Management (SWM); b) Coastal Pollution; c) Recovery of municipal solid waste into compost; d) Per-urban organic farming and water management development; e) City coastal clean-up; f) Artificial reef development; g) Fish sanctuary project

With programs like these, coupled with the city’s own efforts, make it a sustainable city this part of the country. I wouldn’t be surprised to see  CDO’s charm still flourishing in the coming of years.