One of these amazing and culturally diverse places in the Philippines is the glimmering city of General Santos. Located at the region of SOCCSKARGEN, General Santos city is an administratively independent and described as a highly-urbanized city. Due to the city being near the sea, fish ports started to rise from the ground and thus giving General Santos city the moniker, the Tuna Capital of the Philippines.
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Discovering General Santos City
What’s amazing about the Philippines is that every province is unique in their own special ways. There are provinces that are so high up in the mountain that it has a cooler climate than the rest, there are places filled with white sand beaches that are perfect for summer getaways, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Every place, every province, and every city in the Philippines differs from one another that’s why the culture and the way of living of the people is also very diverse.
Before we dive deep why the city of General Santos is considered as the Tuna Capital of the Philippines, let’s first look at the city’s profile and why and how it became a highly urbanized city that it is today. General Santos City is named after the pioneer who started the settlement of the people that are mostly Christian Filipino migrants. This pioneer also developed the Korondal Valley that started during the middle of the 1930s. This pioneer is no other than General Paulino Santos. Did you know that before the city was named General Santos, it was called another name? General Santos is formerly known as Buayan, not until 1954 when it was renamed after the pioneer. Located at the top of Sarangani Bay of the Celebes Sea in South Cotabato, General Santos is one of the most active cities in the fishing industry among the cities in Mindanao. Over time, the city flourished into a shipping point, mainly with their prime produces such as fishes like tuna, of course, as well as pineapple, banana, and cassava. This just proves the fact that General Santos city is not only offering opportunities in the fishing industry but also in the farming industry. Safe to say, General Santos is one of the top agricultural cities in the Philippines.
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The Tuna Capital of the Philippines
General Santos is proudly the Tuna Capital of the Philippines. Famous for its numerous fisheries and ports, the city is an active fish producer, supplier, and exporter. Being dubbed as such is not a piece of cake, it requires impressive records and actual numbers to prove it. With other leading fish producing city in the Philippines such as Navotas and Iloilo City, General Santos city really went all out and clinched the top spot, thus, naming it the Tuna Capital of the Philippines is well-deserved. Here are the reasons why General Santos is truly and surely is the tuna capital of the Philippines.
Six out of Seven Tuna Canning Plants is in General Santos city
That’s right! Six out of seven of the country’s tuna canning plants are located in the city of General Santos. Businesses quickly realized the opportunities of starting a tuna canning plant in the city would bring that’s why it is the perfect place to erect them. This is just one of the evidences that shows why the city is, no doubt, a perfect place for trade and investments. It also helps that General Santos is also the constant leading city with the largest landing volume of fish, specifically yellowfin tuna and other related species. These companies are namely, The General Tuna Corporation, Philbest Canning Corp, Seatrade Canning Corporation, Philbest Canning Corporation, Sta. Cruz Tuna Processing, and the Celebes Canning Corporation. Not only that, there are also 15 frozen tuna processors that are located in the Philippines and eighty percent of that is located in the city of General Santos. These provided jobs to thousands of people in the city.
Modernization and Innovation
Over time, General Santos city adapts new technological advancements that helped in producing tuna and other species more efficient than before. These technologies flourished and sprawled through every process needed in the industry. From catching the fishes with a new and innovative hauling of the catch with net closing at the bottom by hydraulic process to the updated and modernized equipment in canning and storage that became a huge help of preserving the goods. Some technologies over the years are bigger service boats with larger ice boxes, motorized launch of the net for a more precise and stable carrying of the net, generator power light sources for the boat, and more. General Santos proved that it can protect the industry in the city by adapting to the changing world and embracing new technologies that enables growth, not only for the fishing industry but also to the economy of the city and the province.
Extension of Opportunities
It is stated that the city of General Santos as the Tuna Capital of the Philippines provided thousands of opportunities to the local and foreign people in terms of employment in the fishing industries. People found jobs in fishing, people also found opportunities in the canning plants, in the delivery systems for exporting, in the market, etc. The humongous and growing fishing industry in the city of General Santos really gave livelihood programs and options to a lot of people. One sub-industry that is greatly affected by the fish production is the ice plant industry. Due to the continuous fish production and storage in the city, the help of the ice industry is greatly essential and this hugely affected the ice plant industry greatly and benefited the entire business community. General Santos is home to an outstanding number of fifteen ice plants and ten cold storage companies.
Hard work and Passion
General Santos city truly benefited from the treasures that the sea gave them but as everything that can be harvested in the environment, produces will stay as they are without the hard work and passion of the people to provide the needs of the people. The secret of the booming yellowfin tuna industry in General Santos city is the determination of the people. These people are responsible to the growth of the industry and its positive effect to the city’s economy. The fishermen in the city are the unspoken heroes that continuously set out to sea to harvest the treasures that the nature provides. These people and their hard work are part of the treasure that the city protects and nourishes through enrichment and safety programs that give these people the needs and protection that they deserve, both in the field and in the industry.
The past years of remarkable harvest is a testament and proof that General Santos really lived up to its name as the tuna capital of the Philippines. General Santos proved itself as a center of trade and investment and an already established business hub that is continuously growing and expanding with the help of evolving technologies. These facts make the city a prime location for residential investment and living as the city is quickly growing in other sectors such as in tourism, education, and infrastructures. Luckily, finding your brand-new property in General Santos is easy. Bria Homes offers affordable house and lot properties in General Santos South Cotabato that ensures a safe and comfortable dwelling in the city. Bria Homes offers accessible and quality properties in the tuna capital of the Philippines. Acquiring your next property is easy because Bria Homes will guide you along the way, with a website that ushers you to the perfect property for you, you can even browse by location and by residential type. It’s only one click away, so what are you waiting for? Bria Homes will help you reach your dreams.
Written by Rashid Masnan
