Musings for General Santos City

In 2039, General Santos City will mark its 100th year since its civil foundation. For many communities, a centennial is more than a number—it is a defining milestone, a chance to reflect on origins, to honor pioneers, and to pass on a shared story to future generations. Yet, if we look closely at General Santos City today, we find a sobering truth: the city, despite its dynamism, has no official historical council, no city-funded museum, and not even a public art gallery. For a bustling metropolis of nearly a million people, this absence is striking. Many say General Santos has no “soul,” and in the cultural sense, they are not wrong. The Missing Story of a City General Santos is often recognized for its economic growth, its role in tuna and agribusiness, and the colorful energy of its residents. But beyond commerce and industry, what makes a city truly thrive is its story—how it remembers its past and uses that memory to shape its identity. The city has one public library, serving ...

When a renowned lawyer landed in Dumaguete City past nine in the evening, he braced for the familiar frustration: no taxis, no jeepneys, and no obvious way out of the airport. But then something remarkable happened—he found himself hopping onto a Grab E-Trike. What could have been a long, inconvenient night turned into a lighthearted, almost funny story about how a simple, sustainable transport innovation saved the day. Coming from General Santos City, where transportation has long been a pressing challenge, his experience in Dumaguete provides more than comic relief—it offers a glimpse of practical solutions we can adopt. Transportation in General Santos is often marked by insufficient routes, the lack of modernized public vehicles, and poor integration across different modes of mobility. But Dumaguete’s embrace of E-Trikes, supported by ride-hailing technology, shows how cities can creatively respond to mobility needs. The Transport Struggle in GenSan General Santos has grown rapi...

Airports, by their very nature, are built with vast tracts of land, extensive infrastructure, and prime locations near urban centers. When they are replaced by newer facilities, the old airstrips are often left idle or underutilized—wasted opportunities in cities that urgently need new growth corridors. Around the world, progressive governments have reimagined old airports as thriving economic zones, blending business, culture, and technology. In the Philippines, this conversation is long overdue, and nowhere is the potential greater than in General Santos City with its old Buayan Airport. The example of Iloilo is particularly instructive. After the opening of a new airport in Cabatuan in 2007, the old Mandurriao airport was redeveloped into Iloilo Business Park, now a booming commercial and financial hub. The transformation did not only generate thousands of jobs but also attracted global investors, expanded tourism, and spurred allied industries from retail to real estate. What was o...