Sky City Briefer

Republic of the Philippines
Province of Samar
CITY OF CATBALOGAN
Office of the City Mayor
SKY CITY MEGA DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
Project Briefer
1) Could you please describe the project?

Sky City project is a 440-hectare compact Ultra Urban
Model in a contagious rolling land mass situated atop of the
current City of Catbalogan with an elevation of more or less
120 meter above sea level. The site is on the hilltop of the
newly constructed Maharlika Highway Diversion Road
bordering along the mid-slope western edge of the Maqueda
Bay. On the lower ground is the already congested City of
Catbalogan being embraced by the picturesque and mighty
Maqueda Bay and Samar Sea. On the eastside area is the
mountain ranges and on its foot slope is the 25 hectares
man-made lagoon that will enhance the eastern view of Sky
City.
The Sky City will be the new location of the Local
Government Center, Education and Training Center, the City
Hospital, and other Medical and Wellness centers, a
Retirement
Home,
Information
and
Communication
Technology (ICT) Hub, a Multi-Purpose Complex for Sports
and Events, Hotels and Multi-Functional Areas, Business
Centers, Regional Offices, Mall Zones with a scenic view of
the old City and seaside backdrop for High-End Residential,
Middle Class Subdivisions and Medium Rise Townhouses and
Catbalogan City Hall, Rizal Avenue, Catbalogan City, Samar, Philippines 6700 Tel Nos. +63.55. 251.3106
Website: http://www.catbalogan.gov.ph Email: catbalogancity_2007@yahoo.com
Condominiums, Lagoon-Side Spas, Resorts and Resto-Bars.
The project was conceptualized because of two

factors:
1. Need to decongest the present City proper of Catbalogan
2. Need for a citywide relocation site or a new Business
District which is disaster resilient and calamity proof
Need to
Catbalogan
decongest
the
present
City
proper
of
Endowed with geographical advantage of being the

center of commerce and trade for the whole island of Samar
and acting as the de facto regional center of Eastern
Visayas after the onslaught of Super Typhoon Haiyan, our
Citys present Central Business District (CBD) became filled
with business establishments that resulted to the rapid
increase in the cost of doing business in our City. This was
followed by the multiplier effect on the value chain derived
from the spatial insufficiency and absence of expansion
plans. The following are concrete justifications of the need
to develop a new area to decongest the present Catbalogan
City.
1.
High cost of lots/spaces/areas for sale and
rental i.e. buildable lots (Php 30,000.00/sq. m.)
and commercial space rental/month (Php
750.00/sq. m.)
2.
Increasing number of daytime population of
the City from 30,000 before ST Haiyan to
90,000 after ST Haiyan.
3.
Inability of various investors to purchase or
lease commercial spaces who visited the city
and expressed interest to establish their
business in Catbalogan.
Need for a citywide relocation site or a new Business

District, which is disaster resilient, and calamity
proof
In the advent of new climatic phenomena wherein the
occurrence of extreme typhoons and flooding causes severe
infrastructure damages and disruption to business
operations, this proposed SKY CITY is an urgent and timely
solution for our LGUs spatial scarcity problem and our
neighboring LGUs alternative activity centers of goods and
services during harsh time. This was manifested during the
Yolanda (Haiyan) aftermath wherein the City was the
nearest stand-alone center of basic supply and services. As
proof of this claim the following matrix provides data
comparing some indicators before and after ST Haiyan.
2) How is this being done?

The main approach in realizing the project is thru
Public Private Partnership (PPP) this configuration is
becoming increasingly popular because of the recognition
that development should involve all stakeholders as much
as possible. Thus, initially, the preferable or ideal

partnership is thru Inter Local Alliance Model thru the City of
Catbalogan, and the Local Chamber of Commerce
Incorporation
or
Samar
Chamber
of
Commerce
Incorporation (SCCI) financial pooling to give them
opportunity to have participation or co-ownership in the
local
development.
However,
when
the
Regional
Development Council of Eastern Visayas Region recognized
the project as a viable and sustainable solution for regionwide development, the national or central government,
Philippine-based
businessmen,
private
corporations,
investors and developers are also targeted for PPP to realize
the project.
Also with the intensified campaign of the City

Government to accelerate the realization of Sky City, it also
gained international attention by attracting foreign
businessmen and investors. The Odin Energy of South Korea
is one of the earliest foreign investors to signify their
investment in the proposed new City.
The terms of reference of the unsolicited offer are
WHO HAS THE BEST OFFER IN FAVOR TO THE LGU where
after the meeting of the minds of both parties, a Joint
Venture Agreement (JVA) or Memorandum of Agreement
(MOA) will be drafted, reviewed and approved by the proper
authorities.
Taking into consideration that the implementation mix
of the project is in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Project
scheme which to date is the developmental trumpet call of
Aquino administration, the trickledown effect of the same
had reached the local private sector groupings interested to
join the PPP Bandwagon. However, despite its continuing
popularity and economic viability, the City LGUs has yet to
formulate a well-defined or standard guidelines or IRR
(Implementing Rules and Regulations) that will fit
Government-PPP setting in Catbalogan City.
To pioneer in the PPP scheme in an LGU set up with
this project, the City of Catbalogan will use the City-led
implementation scheme through the City Tourism and
Investment Promotion Office (CTIPO) known as the Samar
Tourism and Entrepreneurship Promotion Center (STEP-C).
Under the direct supervision of the Local Chief Executive,
this Office is being manned by the Tourism and Investment
Promotion Officer Designate with the following functions;
Image Building
Investment Promotion and Strategies

Investment Generation
Investment Servicing
Knowledge Management (KM)
The City has recently enacted the City Tourism Code

and City Investment Code which fall under the umbrella of
Samar Tourism and Entrepreneurship Center or otherwise
known as STEP Center legally rooted on Republic Act 7460
known as NERBAC (National Economic Research and
Business Assistance Center) Law. This STEP Center is an
integrated product conceived during the 2010 Provincial
NERBAC Workshop initiated and sponsored by DTI-8/GTZ
Phase 2 PSP (Private Sector Promotion) SMEDSEP which
opened the flood gate of investment opportunity to this
City; thus officially paving the way of making Catbalogan
City as one stop shop in Business Facilitation, Tourism and
Investment Promotion to her nearby satellite LGUs.
The STEP Center is tasked to create an air of attractive

business servicing investment opportunities, sound
investment study and advisory investors after care to
encourage capital formation thus improving the quality of
life in this City. For this project the major role of STEP Center
is on its full implementation being segmented in the
following phase:
A. Pre-implementation
B. Implementation Proper
C. Post Implementation
The City, through the STEP Center will create special
steering committees for the three phases of its
implementation. These Committees will be strictly guided
by the Joint Venture Agreement and PPPIRR.
The Steering Committees shall be preferably
composed of representatives coming from the private sector
NGOs (Non -Government Organization) /POs (Peoples
Organization) and other government agencies to ensure
transparency and accountability in all matters to the PPP
ensuring compliance to the JVA(Joint Venture Agreement)
/IRR (Implementing Rules and Regulations) standard.
A. Pre-Implementation, Pre-and Detailed Engineering and FS
(Feasibility Preparation) Preparation
1. Project Identification
2. FS preparation
3. Compliance of Inter-LGU Requirements of the
PPP Projects
4. Compliance of Inter-Agency Requirements of
the PPP (Public Private Partnership) Projects
5. FS Committee will be composed of the
following: City Tourism and Investment and
Promotion Office (CTIPO) and City Engineering
Office.
B. Implementation
1. Bidding and Publication of the Proposed PPP
2. Acceptance
of
unsolicited
offer
from
interested parties
3. Technical Evaluation and Assessment of the
Business Proposal from interested parties
4. Joint Venture Agreement
5. Award of the PPP
a. Bids and Awards Committee
b. CTIPO
c. IBP
d. City Engineering Office
e. City Environment and Natural Resources
Office
f. Academe
g. SCCI
h. ICT
C. Project Implementation ProperThough the Private
Developer has their Technical Staff the City Government
through the STEP Center will create a Multi Sectoral
Technical Monitoring Team with the following Composition:
1. CTIPO
2. City Engineering Office
3. City Environment Natural Resources Office
4. Academe
5. SCCI
6. ICT
3) What are the expected results?
The project will help address the needs of the City, namely:
1. Need to decongest the present City proper of
Catbalogan
2. Need for a citywide relocation site or a new Business
District which is disaster resilient and calamity proof
Q
As a response the following are specific results of the project:

1. Intensified economic vibrancy as evidenced by the
increase of businesses to be established in the city
specifically in Sky City, increase employment rate of
Catbaloganons and Samarnons, increase capitalization
of businesses and investment in Catbalogan and

increase of income among community members
2. Creation and availability of a Disaster Resilient,
Calamity Proof and Climate Change ready site/area
that can accommodate new educational, government,
multi-functional and residential areas for Catbalogan
City.
Q
The new City will be identified as a new benchmark of a

City, which is both a DRRM model city and a Climate
Change mitigation and adaptation tool.
4) What challenges is the project facing?
The biggest challenge faced by the project is
financing. Catbalogan City with a limited fund source of only
Php 500 M per year cannot sustain the development of Sky
City. With this, the City proponents of the Sky City project
have to source out funds from national government, private
national and multinational companies and investors. The
following are the budgetary and financial analysis of the
project.
5) What can other cities learn from this?

Sky City is a Good Model for the rest of the Cities in the
World - from Disaster Risk Reduction and Management,
Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation. On the
Infrastructure side, it is a model for other Cities on how to
make their City Climate Change proof. On the Human
Capacity Side, the Sky City is a good school for Climate
Change, Disaster and Calamity Readiness and Resiliency. If
Albay, Philippines is the Climate Change Academy of the
World, Sky City of Catbalogan City can be the Disaster
Management Laboratory in terms of Infrastructure and
Human Development Model.

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Republic of the Philippines

1) Could you please describe the project?

Condominiums, Lagoon-Side Spas, Resorts and Resto-Bars.

The project was conceptualized because of two

Endowed with geographical advantage of being the

Need for a citywide relocation site or a new Business

2) How is this being done?

as possible. Thus, initially, the preferable or ideal

Also with the intensified campaign of the City

Investment Promotion and Strategies

The City has recently enacted the City Tourism Code

The STEP Center is tasked to create an air of attractive

As a response the following are specific results of the project:

of businesses and investment in Catbalogan and

The new City will be identified as a new benchmark of a

5) What can other cities learn from this?

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