DAVAO CITY, Philippines (PIA) — Davao City turned out to be the least vulnerable city to business risks and environmental changes compared to other major cities like Cebu, Baguio, and Iloilo.

In a study initiated by the World Wide Fund (WWF-Philippines) in partnership with the Bank of Philippine Islands Foundation, Davao was found to have the least level of vulnerability compared to other cities. This despite the findings that sea level rise, increased sea surface temperatures, ocean acidification, and inter-annual variability of rainfall have a high possibility of happening here.

WWF's Lory Tan explained that the study result should guide city leaders and the private sector to "do things the right way."

"We are presenting this study for the local governments to be guided in their plans and for the private sector to consider these realities for their investments," he said.

The study ran for a year and made use of statistics, research, and stakeholders forum.

It also revealed that Davao will have to solve its in-migration as it emerged as a site of refuge for an increasing number of migrants.

Statistics showed that the city logged more than 692,000 new inhabitants over 20 years. This is the highest number of inhabitants recorded in the four cities covered by the study.

Davao also registered the highest population growth rate at 2.88 percent.

Tan explained that as the city accommodates more migrants who realize that Davao is indeed the "promised land," it also faces challenges for sustainable development especially in sustaining essential utilities like water and power.

“High population growth and in-migration underscores the need for strategic development decisions that must be made now," the study said.

The study recommended the setting up of a multi-stakeholder formula for continuity to sustain and re-engineer the city’s agricultural strengths and avoid disorganized congestion.

In agriculture — which was identified as the second development driver for the city — an equitable but productive formulas need to be developed along with agricultural production and land use to counter the growing Davao population, the study said.

City Planning Officer Roberto Alabado welcomed the study result as a helpful tool for the local government. He said City Mayor Sara Duterte instructed him to make use of the existing study data for the city's Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

Davao, he said, is privileged to be provided with this information especially that the LGU is in the process of fixing and polishing land use policies.

"We will surely integrate these results to our comprehensive plan. We will also be talking to investors if they happen to own a property identified as high risk by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau. For those with existing infrastructure in those high risk areas, they will have to comply with our requirements,” he said.