PRA to Speed Up Davao Retirement MOA{7}
This references an article I saved late last year but never got around to posting about. It deals with the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to establish the Davao region as a retirement haven. Though the original article from Mindanao Times is no longer available online, the gist of it was that the PRA (Philippines Retirement Authority) wants to put the MOA on a fast track.
The two points mentioned in the article that were specific to Samal Island, and therefore most important to me, were the lack of adequate medical facilities (a theme I’ve discussed before) and the need for completion of the infamous Samal-Davao bridge, which also relates to the access to medical facilities.
But he ( Jaime B. Llames, officer in charge of the PRA Davao Satellite Office) said Samal poses several problems including the lack of proximity to a medical facility, which is one of the criteria of investors along with transportation and recreation facilities.
“Samal lacks the transportation and health care needs which are substantial for retirees living in a particular retirement village but we are asking the city government to provide us a hospital or a clinic and a bridge for easier transportation ,” he added.
Personally I don’t really understand what a MOA does to help with enticing foreign retirees. Possibly it puts more focus on the subject? Davao already has a lot to offer, but if they really want to get more foreign retirees, I think the land/home ownership laws are going to have to be revised. Even allowing a smaller lot, say up to 1000 square meters, would be a be step in the right direction IMO.
The issue of foreign ownership encompasses much more than just the Davao region, but it may be time for Davao to push for the change in the law if they are serious about being a retirement haven.
PRA DAVAO SATELLITE OFFICE
MR. JAIME B. LLAMES
Officer-in-Charge (OIC), Davao Satellite Office
Address: 2/F, The Royal Mandaya Hotel, J. Palma Street, Davao City
Address: DTI-NERBAC, Monteverde st., Davao City
Trunk Line: +6382 225.8888 Local 6299
Cellphone No. : +63928.551.0954
Email : davao@pra.gov.ph
via PRA to speed up MOA for retirement haven plan | Mindanao Times
photo credit: puppetgov
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Apr 18, 2010 @ 04:03:41
true. but foreign ownership entails constitutional amendments, an unpopular issue at the moment.
interestingly enough, one of the davao mayoral candidate (and current house speaker) is a huge proponent of the amendment. they even named the issue after him.
here’s a link to the each presidential candidate’s opinion on foreign ownership:
http://www.mindanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7875
as you probably know, residential developers are trying to go around this problem by focusing on condo resort developments. kembali resort in samal has gone on record about this very strategy.
by the way, i found this link about the MOA. just in case you were looking for a recent mention of it:
http://balita.ph/2010/03/27/samal-island-lures-retirees/
Apr 18, 2010 @ 06:45:45
Thanks for the links, Macky. Lovely wrote a pretty extensive article there on Balita.ph and I hadn’t seen it previously.
Yes, I am aware of the condo ownership rules, but I don’t think most retirees prefer to go that route. At least I know I don’t.
It’s good to know that at least there is consideration of an amendment. There’s hope that it will happen in the future, though the long terms effects of such an action are hard to predict. Selfishly, if it were to happen and the effect were a higher cost of living for everyone, I wouldn’t be too thrilled about that.
Apr 18, 2010 @ 16:50:57
My opinion is that foreign ownership and also the Davao-Samal bridge will not happen within our lifetimes, Randy. I would say that those two issues are as close to impossible as you can get.
Apr 18, 2010 @ 17:55:02
What are the reasons that land ownership won’t happen, Bob? I have a pretty good idea of the pros and cons of the bridge, but not so much when it comes to the land ownership issue.
Apr 19, 2010 @ 00:23:40
Hi Randy – The Philippine Constitution requires 100% Filipino ownership of land in the Philippines. In order to allow any foreign ownership at all, a constitutional amendment will be required. The people here are scared to death of amending the constitution. As soon as the words “Charter Change” are mentioned, people are up in arms. They think that those who want to alter the constitution really want to take over the government in a dictatorship, ala Marcos, and they don’t want that. A couple of generations will need to pass before the people of the Philippines are ready to play with the constitution at all.
I am not saying that I am opposed to foreign ownership, I am totally in favor of it. But, changing the constitution, at this time is playing with fire.
Jun 11, 2010 @ 08:01:14
Hi sir, I also saw that article about Davao retirement
davao/davao-city-eyed-retirement-haven – Sunstar
i think it was published last december 2008. and together with davao their choices are Baguio, Clark, Subic, and Cebu to be the focal points of the retirement haven
but recently, I found this article
Subic positioned as retirement haven – subicholidayvillas.com
SBMA and PRA already signed the MOA in making subic a retirement haven.
does this mean retirement haven in Davao aren’t possible anymore?
and do you know more about PRA’s criteria for site selection of a retirement haven?
Jun 11, 2010 @ 16:51:13
Hi Raine – I would think that they can have as many retirement havens as they want, especially if they are on different parts of the island. Of course that means each of them is competing with the others.
Maybe the official PRA website has the information you are looking for: pra.gov.ph