Gov’t framework spells out Mindanao’s development goals

A FRAMEWORK designed to guide development plans for Mindanao for the next 10 years was presented yesterday to President Benigno S. C. Aquino III in Malacañan Palace.

The blueprint, dubbed “Mindanao 2020 Peace and Development Framework Plan” or “Mindanao 2020” envisions a Mindanao that will have achieved peace, development and integration with the rest of the country.

A briefing paper on the framework said Mindanao 2020, which succeeds the previous framework that ends this year, “should serve as basis for more detailed plans and budgets of shorter duration within its…time frame. It should also help guide more geographically specific (regional or local) and sector-level plans to ensure consistency and coherence within an overall and Mindanao-wide perspective.”

The new framework identified 10 general development goals, namely:

* sustained upliftment of the lives of Mindanao residents of all cultures and socioeconomic classes;
* a unified, dynamic Mindanao economy that is technology-enabled, characterized by cooperation among various economic centers and widely known as a leading agri-industrial center in the country and Asia and the Pacific;
* responsible, sustainable management of Mindanao’s natural and cultural resources to equitably uplift the lives of Mindanao residents and protect the environment;
* a world-class infrastructure system that supports efficient movement of people and goods, as well as wide information and communication access;
* lasting peace in a gunless Mindanao society, with private armies and other illegal-armed groups dismantled;
* respect for Mindanao residents’ personal and communal dignity, as well as their cultural rights;
* maximum access to formal, informal, alternative, and indigenous education;
* families, communities and institutions capable of growing their traditions and contributing to cultural diversity;
* rebuilt lives and institutions and healing from conflict, war, epidemics and natural disasters; as well as
* active international economic, cultural and political links, especially with Southeast Asian neighbors and other Asian economies, as well as with the Middle East.

In his speech after receiving the report, Mr. Aquino said “Mindanao will be at the core of our social development and poverty alleviation programs.”

He added that long-term programs for internally-displaced persons are being developed with “the continuing patronage of our development partners, such as the European Commission.” Other foreign groups with extensive aid operations in Mindanao include the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The government will also push agricultural development in Mindanao in hopes of transforming it into a modern agricultural hub and the nation’s food basket that will not only provide sufficient food for itself and the rest of the country, but also for exports.

Mindanao Development Authority chairperson Lualhati R. Antonino said in an interview after the presentation that for the term of the Aquino administration, “the focus is on poverty alleviation and infrastructure development,” as well as towards peace. She added that about P60 billion will be needed in the next six years to fund infrastructure development in Mindanao, particularly more roads and power plants.

Asked how the administration that succeeds the current one in 2016 is supposed to take the framework, Ms. Antonino said via text: “It’s a basis for the next administration. This is just…a guide for planning.” — Ana Mae G. Roa, Businessworld