With the increase in commercialization of Legaspi City,
it is but natural for congestion, as a problem, to make
itself visible to the city government. In order to solve
this imminent problem, the city government was able to pull
together P80 million, 62 percent of which is financed from
local sources and 38 percent by the USAID grant, to create
a new commercial business district.
The construction of an alternative 3.1 kilometer
road from the airport to the old commercial district, the
construction of a market complex with bus, jeepney, and
tricycle terminals, and the privatization of the administration
of the public market are all included in the plans to accommodate
the development of the area. With the onset of the creation
of the road from the airport to the old commercial district,
400 hectares of previously inaccessible land was opened
to commercial, residential, and industrial activities.
Seeing the obvious progress this road project would
elicit, the community supported the city government by donating
their lands. 81 percent of the landowners donated the land
and only 17 percent had to be purchased.
All these changes brought about the much-needed expansion
to the city, plus some more. The construction of the airport
road increased the market value of the lands, thus increasing
the property tax revenues in 1996 by 39 percent. The January
1997 collection surpassed the previous year’s level
by 40 percent. The privatization of the market also brought
the government a P2.5 million revenue from the rental payment
of the market operator. In addition to that, the weight
of the costs for the salaries and other operating expenses
that used to be shouldered by the government was lifted
from its shoulders.
