SARANGANI, Philippines – Bulldozers are working onerous within the poblacion of Alabel, laying new drainage and carving roads to distant barangays. The concrete and asphalt works appear to scream progress and growth.
In addition they point out a municipality enjoying catch-up with foundations that residents say ought to have been strategically constructed to arrange for the urbanization it has lengthy wished to attain.
In spite of everything, Alabel, the capital of Sarangani province in Mindanao, has been pushing to be transformed right into a metropolis for near a decade now. It’s one of many few capitals, if not the one one, that stay as municipalities. (Learn | TIMELINE: In Sarangani, Alabel’s long-drawn battle for cityhood)
Rising revenue isn’t every part
Regardless of stalled cityhood payments in previous Congresses, Alabel has been gearing as much as meet the necessities for conversion.
From an annual revenue of P79.66 million in 2018, when the primary invoice for cityhood was filed by then-Sarangani congressman Rogelio Pacquiao, the quantity has climbed as much as almost P237.6 million in 2024.
Municipal finance information attribute the leap primarily to stronger actual property tax collections, rising enterprise allow charges, and better market leases as extra enterprises arrange within the poblacion.
Between 2022 and 2024, the Division of Public Works and Highways poured P547 million into street concreting, flood-control tasks, and farm-to-market hyperlinks from distant barangays to the poblacion.
Even Alabel’s municipal corridor appears to be maintaining with the cityhood ambition — a brand new administration constructing with a bigger session corridor for the Sangguniang Bayan.
Rising native revenues are solely half of the story, nevertheless. There may be the opposite half of whether or not the city can reside, breathe, and performance like a metropolis.
Complete anti-flooding plan wanted
Regardless of the continuing drainage tasks throughout city, as an illustration, even gentle rain leaves knee-deep waters in low-lying streets.
Councilor Mark Lester Senit, an engineer who chairs the municipal council’s infrastructure and waterworks committee, acknowledges the hole.
“For me, perhaps it’s solely proper to grow to be a metropolis as soon as our drainage and water techniques are so as. If the municipality qualifies, that’s good. However we must always end and enhance these first, in order that we’ll be extra presentable as a metropolis,” he stated in a mixture of English and Filipino
“We want a complete plan, with a steady funds, till flooding is addressed throughout the complete municipality,” Senit burdened.
One other engineer, Ian Montefalcon, factors out that unaddressed flooding may scare off buyers — those that Alabel hopes to draw as soon as it modifications standing to being a metropolis.
“If new infrastructure comes with out fixing drainage first, it’s going to solely add issues,” Montefalcon stated in Bisaya.
In 2024, over P737 million price of flood management and drainage system enchancment was earmarked within the municipality’s Annual Infrastructure Program, primarily based on the Common Appropriations Act. Individually, for 2025 and 2026, P10 million has been allotted for the municipality’s Grasp Drainage Plan, as outlined in its funding program.
Measures of liveability
Montefalcon warned that Alabel, if it doesn’t plan its growth properly, may simply replicate the woes of older city facilities.
Political analyst Jovanie Espesor of the Mindanao State College-Common Santos gave the identical warning. As seen within the case of GenSan — the area’s financial hub some 20 minutes away from Alabel by automotive — drainage is commonly the primary casualty of poorly deliberate progress, he stated.
It is without doubt one of the “main sins of most city communities within the Philippines,” he added.
“GenSan is a product of gradual evolution due to financial growth, which makes city planning weak. It’s anticipated that there will probably be an enormous infrastructure increase — industrial buildings, subdivisions, different bodily infrastructure — however most city facilities aren’t really conscious of what’s not seen, the drainage system,” Espesor stated.
The flexibility to deal with and forestall floods is simply one of many measures which Alabel is up in opposition to. The World Liveability Index highlights the fundamentals: housing, water, well being, schooling, jobs, and governance.
Within the Philippines, these indicators echo the imaginative and prescient of the Marcos administration’s Ambisyon Natin 2040 for secure, affluent, and inclusive communities. In Alabel, these are the day by day issues of residents who will finally resolve whether or not the city is able to carry the burden of being a metropolis.
Inhabitants progress, housing stress
One seen signal of Alabel’s rising pains is its swelling inhabitants and the stress this places on housing.
Alabel’s inhabitants has been persistently rising lately, pushed by a spillover from Common Santos Metropolis and migrants from close by cities. Poblacion alone is house to at least one in each 5 residents, whereas barangays like Alegria and Maribulan are catching up. New subdivisions are rising close to the city middle, regularly reshaping its once-rural skyline.
MSU’s Espesor stated migration is a two-edged sword: “You entice individuals with expertise and {qualifications} as a result of alternatives are right here, however you additionally entice these with decrease schooling and expertise who will nonetheless avail themselves of social providers though they’re not native.”
He famous that some Indigenous peoples within the hinterlands might finally go away ancestral farms for jobs and alternatives nearer to the middle.
With a inhabitants of 90,120 as of the 2024 census, and a land space of 510.98 sq. kilometers, Alabel nonetheless has room for enlargement. Cityhood may change that — by 2030, its inhabitants is projected to succeed in 100,000.
Below the municipality’s funding program, housing tasks are within the pipeline in 2025 and 2026. The purpose is to relocate displaced and underprivileged households, particularly these in coastal and flood-prone areas.
But when new companies and migrants transfer in, and with out correct zoning and inexpensive housing applications, the city may see casual settlements and congestion throughout the decade.
Entry to potable water
Dependable utilities additionally stay a day by day wrestle for a lot of residents. Most barangays have entry to water and electrical energy, however upland and coastal communities nonetheless report irregular service.
Alabel’s water system works positive for now, however it’s constructed for a small city, not a rising metropolis. The native authorities is increasing potable water techniques in 49 sitios and upland barangays, however the query is whether or not these tasks can sustain as soon as buyers are available in to arrange places of work and factories, and develop subdivisions and construct faculties and malls.
Councilor Senit admitted that Alabel’s water system nonetheless depends on outdated expertise and leaves some barangays with out entry.
“We have to take a look at trendy expertise to make our ingesting water secure, and to deliver water up from decrease sources to upland areas. There are nonetheless barangays with out correct water provide,” he stated.
Constructing roads: Guarantees and threats
Connectivity has improved with new farm-to-market roads and freeway upgrades, however gaps stay. Inside Poblacion, some streets await concreting, and the multi-million-peso transport terminal stays unfinished 4 years after groundbreaking rites.
For an upland resident like Darwin (not his actual identify), a 26-year previous skilled instructor and a member of a cultural minority, higher roads may imply quicker entry to colleges, markets, and primary providers in distant areas.
However of their neighborhood, the cityhood dialog feels distant. He stated consultations have been scarce, and lots of residents in upland sitios are nonetheless unsure about what a metropolis transition would imply for them.
“They should begin with the fundamentals, like explaining to the IPs what cityhood actually means,” he stated in a mixture of English and Bisaya. “If Alabel turns into a metropolis, the federal government has to evaluate the wants of the neighborhood. Livelihoods may change, and there’s additionally the chance that ancestral land will probably be affected as a result of whenever you consider a metropolis, it normally means extra roads and buildings.”
Governance and inclusivity
The uneven unfold of providers fuels a deeper fear: who advantages from cityhood. Darwin stated that whereas Poblacion enjoys main upgrades, many sitios nonetheless lack dependable transport and livelihood alternatives.
“Perhaps the [local] authorities is prepared, however the residents aren’t,” he added.
This hole in governance additionally ties again to the economic system. For upland and coastal residents, being “left behind” doesn’t simply imply roads or lecture rooms, it additionally means fewer livelihood alternatives.
For 23-year-old contemporary graduate Jade Alegre, cityhood seems like a promise of higher alternatives. However he admits employment choices stay restricted, forcing many graduates to go away Alabel for work elsewhere.
“It’s onerous to think about the imaginative and prescient of cityhood turning into actual when assets and alternatives nonetheless really feel so restricted,” he stated.
Slim base, heavy reliance on nationwide funds
Whereas agriculture continues to anchor Alabel’s economic system (with coconut, corn, and fisheries dominating) and small retail and repair enterprises are increasing, the city has but to develop the sort of diversified economic system that sustains most cities.
The municipality’s Assertion of Receipts and Expenditures reveals a structural weak spot. In 2024, Alabel’s whole working revenue reached about P1.07 billion, however the bulk — over 80% — got here from its share of the Nationwide Tax Allotment, underscoring its dependence on nationwide transfers.
Political analyst Rogelio Panao of the College of the Philippines’ Heart for Investigative and Growth Research (UP CIDS) warned that this reliance leaves municipalities susceptible to fluctuations in nationwide funds coverage.
Can Alabel preserve tempo with progress?
Within the brief time period, cityhood may deliver status and probably extra assets. However status alone can’t assure clear water, dependable transport, or inexpensive housing.
By 2035, Alabel may develop right into a well-planned, useful metropolis if leaders make investments early in utilities, infrastructure, connectivity, and financial diversification. If not, the municipality dangers replicating the city complications of congestion, flooding, and weak providers that hang-out many Philippine cities.
Cebu Metropolis’s case affords a cautionary story of how unplanned progress can backfire. Jawjaw Loseñada mentioned in a UP CIDS paper the prices of fast and uneven urbanization. He identified that reclamation tasks, together with overbuilding in upland and coastal areas, destroyed ecosystems and made flooding worse — a lot in order that even gentle rain now brings ankle- to knee-deep waters that disrupt day by day life.
“I believe that’s one factor Alabel should be conscious about, particularly in preparation for its cityhood — that they need to have this mindset and perspective of recent city planning,” Espesor stated.
Certainly, Alabel nonetheless feels extra a rural city than a budding metropolis. Agriculture stays the first livelihood. Whereas there’s a modest uptick in small companies like espresso retailers, grocery shops, and retail retailers, the native economic system is way from diversified as in established cities.
And the thought of cityhood brings issues to those small, homegrown companies. Archell Emnace, 28, a ironmongery shop proprietor, worries that cityhood may deliver buyers and jobs, however may additionally trigger costs of products and providers to soar.
She stated she will be able to solely afford to pay her staff P380 a day, beneath the provincial minimal of P420. “If we grow to be a metropolis, wages will go up,” she added. “That’s good for staff, however will probably be onerous for small companies like mine.” – Rappler.com
Rey Mark Paran is a senior statistics scholar on the College of the Philippines Visayas. An Aries Rufo Journalism Fellow of Rappler for 2025, he’s additionally the managing editor of Pagbutlak.
