The population density in the metropolis is certainly beyond its carrying capacity. Be it the provision of basic services, or even garbage and sewerage and other sanitation systems necessary for a modicum in the quality of life, Metro Manila fails.
Neither can a transfer of the ational government agencies be made so far from the present National Capital Region. The resources needed for such would be so massive, and the habitat displacement of civil servants too politically difficult.
Thus the Green City in Clark, or its surrounding areas, would be ideal, with accessibility to air and sea travel quite ideal.
A program of early retirement for civil servants 60 years old and above can be implemented, breathing new life into an atrophied bureaucracy. The younger recruits, as well as those in middle management who rent apartments or condominium units in the NCR, could then reside in the Central Luzon area, where housing could be provided by government on affordable terms.
With national government agencies transferring to Clark, some private sector businesses would likewise relocate, such as media outfits who have to be close to where government is, and those who transact regularly with the national government agencies.
With or without federalism, some centralized government functions could be delegated to city and provincial responsibilities, such as the licensing of vehicles and drivers. Why do we need a centralized system in the age of computers when everything could be linked up?
The average Juan dela Cruz hardly transacts with national government; they do with their LGUs. They pay real estate taxes, get permits to operate businesses, get birth, marriage and death certificates from their local governments, and other tax payments are made through the banks. So why in heaven’s name should the bulk of citizens who do not work for the national government have to reside where the national government holds its offices?
A master plan for a national government center could thus be made, such as L’Enfant did for Washington D.C., or as they did in Brazilia, in Putrajaya, in Canberra, Ottawa, Ankara, Wellington and so many other government capitals.
Did New York die? Or Istanbul? Or Sydney and Kuala Lumpur, Auckland and Toronto? No, they continued to flourish as commercial, financial, cultural centers. They still became the favorite destinations of foreign tourists, who in most cases did not bother to visit the new government centers.
What are we then to do with existing government buildings owned by the national government?
Malacañang, which President Duterte says is “haunted,” can be a grand museum. The Batasan could become another convention center. The Philippine General Hospital, already lacking in space to serve patients, can always take over, along with the UP College of Medicine, the Padre Faura buildings currently occupied by the Supreme Court and the DOJ. The Supreme Court under CJ Sereno, after all, wants to move out, and into a spanking new building at already congested Bonifacio Global City. Move to Clark then, which BCDA also controls.
The Quezon Circle buildings can be sold to the private sector, retrofitted for private office use or even as hotels. Other government properties could be converted to housing, as even without the national government employees, many NCR residents still need affordable housing close to their places of work.
With the population density in NCR becoming less heavy, the pressure on traffic and other problems will gradually ease. Many empty spaces still owned by government can be converted into parks, creating new lungs for the metropolis.
I have suggested several times in this space that we create two international airports for Luzon, one to serve the North and Central Luzon areas, which would be Clark, and one to serve NCR and the southern parts, which would be in Sangley. This is not to preclude upgrading airports for short haul regional and domestic flights to places like Cagayan and Ilocos, or the Bicol Region.
And when there is a new airport in Cavite and the Clark gateway is fully operational, we can convert the 600 or so hectares of land occupied by Naia, not into another private real estate play, but a huge “central” park for the NCR. Underneath the park could be a huge water catchment basin both for flood control and water recycling.
The possibilities are limitless. Moving the national government center out of Metro Manila and into Clark (which could then be renamed accordingly) would unleash the best architectural and urban planning creativity the Filipino mind is capable of.
Similarly, the summer capital, Baguio, which is choked beyond solution, could be reinvented elsewhere, as in the highland area bounded by Pangasinan, Nueva Vizcaya and Benguet.
Thus will the “dead” city which is Metro Manila become “living” once more, a genteel habitat to a reduced population. Hand in hand with the proper revival of the Pasig River and the redesign of its embankments, our beloved Manila could yet regain its old glory as the Pearl of the Orient.
It will take a process, but the time to decide is now.