HCPG Travel Series : BEYOND THE GREENS
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The well-kept secret that is Cagayan de Oro City is a secret no longer.
The officially recognized alumni association in the Philippines of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, recently completed their first ever travel event to this city to have an up-close-and-personal look at the Philippines’ emerging fourth metropolitan area.
Patricia-Ann T. Prodigalidad, ACCRALAW Managing Director, and Co-President of the Harvard Club of the Philippines Global (HCPG, the official alumni association of Harvard Alumni Foundation of the Philippines) said their Harvard Travel Series is the only alumni group activity outside of Cambridge that goes beyond mere travel and socials.
“A Harvard event has to have some form of information sharing, so we interspersed socials with learning about the country, particularly how certain cities have become more progressive than others. Every time you meet other people, other industries, other professions, that touch point is an opportunity.”
The biannual event preferably held at a location where a Harvard alumnus resides, chose Cagayan de Oro as its first destination, with Pueblo de Oro Chairman & CEO Guillermo D. Luchangco (Harvard ’67) hosting the event.
Maria Carolina V. Dominguez, President & CEO, John Clements Consultants, the group’s immediate past co-president, expressed her delight in their decision to hold their first travel series in Cagayan de Oro.
“We just started the Travel Series. We were blown away. Uptown was so beautiful, bustling with a vibe like Makati. And you have such wonderful restaurants, I don’t think you can find ones like these in other highly urbanized cities. It’s a very sophisticated city, and for someone like me I’ve seen a lot in my travels abroad. The culture, the food, the shopping, the golf course is beautiful.”
At a luncheon presentation held at a restaurant at SM CDO Uptown’s North Wing, Luchangco
challenged the group: if Chicago is known as the Second City in the United States after New York, couldn’t Cagayan de Oro aspire to be the Philippines second city?
He related his experience as a First Mover to develop 360 hectares of barren land in the uptown area in 1995, encouraged by the city’s economic profile with one of the largest middle-class populations in the entire country (5% in the high-income class; 77% in the middle-income class; only 18% in the low-income class) that were good indicators for housing demand.
“Wow, it would be hard to find another Philippine city with those kinds of numbers,” he exclaimed. He further noted how it is the entrepot trading center for Northern Mindanao, with the Mindanao Container Terminal right beside it.
Equally encouraging was the emergence of Cagayan de Oro as the country’s fourth metropolitan area after Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao. Cagayan de Oro is the only city in the Visayas and Mindanao which ranks among the Top 12 of the Philippines Highly Urbanized Cities (HUCs) with the Highest Gross Domestic Product per Capita in 2024. UK-based Oxford Economics ranks Cagayan de Oro as the sixth largest urban economy in the Philippines in the list of 1,000 world’s largest urban economies in 2025 for the second year in a row.
According to the Bureau of Local Government Finance, Cagayan de Oro City also ranks second to Davao City in terms of Locally Sourced Revenue in 2024 with P3.15 Billion. With only 40% of Davao City’s population and a mere 17% of its land area, Cagayan de Oro LGU generated 36% more revenues per capita, attesting to the productivity and regulatory compliance of Kagay-anons and their establishments.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) records further show that in 2024, Cagayan de Oro had total bank deposits of P163.39 billion, second to Davao City in Mindanao (which had P336.29 billion), but ahead of other Mindanao urban centers like Cotabato City (P117.78 billion), Zamboanga City (P88.95 billion), and General Santos City (P64.91 billion).
Metro Cagayan de Misamis Development Authority
Meantime, the House Committee on Ways and Means and Committee on Government Enterprises have already approved House Bill No. 1843 filed by Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro) creating the Metro Cagayan de Misamis Development Authority (MCMDA) as a unified development authority that would formulate policies for the efficient and most effective delivery of basic services in the area such as Development Planning, Transport & Traffic Management, Solid Waste Management, Flood Control & Sewerage Management, Urban Renewal, Zoning, Land Use Planning and Shelter Services, among others, without prejudice to the autonomy, powers and jurisdiction of the LGUs covered.
Flying below the radar
Haidee Enriquez, President, Contact Center Association of the Philippines and CEO of Microsourcing, the biggest outsourcing company in the Philippines with some 10,000 employees in Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao, said she’s very bullish about Cagayan de Oro.
“One of the things that to me made a difference: the Cagayan de Oro ICT Business Council treated us very warmly. After the presentation, they helped us with our first job fair, coordinated with the LGU, investment house was very helpful (Oro-TIPC), which was at a different level from what we experienced elsewhere. The heads of the colleges and universities were present during the presentation. I will always go with the option where we can make the most impact.”
She also mentioned the reason that Cagayan de Oro was a “well-kept secret” was for the most part it was “flying below the radar”.
Whenever she visits the provinces as a member of the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines, she never fails to stress to the universities their need to be in a platform they where they can be seen because the reason why investors don’t seem to be coming, was because investors cannot see how robust their talent pools are.
Upgrading Cagayan de Oro
For his part, Luchangco presented Pueblo de Oro’s (PDO) two upcoming major projects which would further elevate the city’s prestige and attraction to investors.
Masterson Mile North, a five-tower complex would offer residents apartments of a higher standard and quality than any other residential condominiums in CDO today. Gensler and Associates, an international master planning and architectural firm based in San Francisco, ensures the Luxury Units would further upgrade the aura of the city as a hip, upcoming, and modern place in which to invest, locate, or do business.
Similarly, the 31-hectare Southridge (next to the Pueblo-Laguindingan Road which cuts by half travel time from the city to the Laguindingan International Airport) would be a Silicon Valley-type project with plenty of greenery between buildings, mid-rise buildings of 6-8 storeys at most, and a generally rolling landscape. The buildings may house residential apartments, offices and BPO buildings, retail areas, and leisure parks.
A World Trade Center is also being considered for the area. At present, there is only World Trade Center Metro Manila located in Pasay managed by PDO’s sister company, World Trade Center Management, Inc.
Masterson Mile North and Southridge are innovative and PDO hopes it contributes to the further growth of the city and its further upgrading and sophistication as a leading urban center of the country.
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Its influence, wealth, and rankings have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world
The Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) is the official association for more than 420,000 Harvard alumni around the world who have attended Harvard College or one of Harvard’s Graduate and Professional Schools. HAA maintains and enhances a highly engaged, vibrant community of alumni and friends worldwide. It helps connect alumni to the University and each other through a wealth of networking opportunities, professional development resources, online services, programs, volunteer opportunities, faculty-led trips and events around the world, among others.
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