MinDA pushes for 4 federated regions plus Palawan under a federal set-up

DAVAO CITY — The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) is pushing for the merging of Davao Region with Soccsksargen and Caraga with Northern Mindanao regions as federal states.

Tamayo said in an interview that among the considerations for the merging are that they are economically co-integrated in terms of products and services, land sizes, interconnectivity, and per capital gross regional domestic product (GRDP).

Under the MinDA’s proposal, Mindanao would be composed of five federated regions such as Davao-Soccsksargen, Caraga-Northern Mindanao, Zamboanga Peninsula, and Palawan due to its proximity to the island.

Davao is composed of Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Davao Occidental, Compostela Valley, and Davao City while Soccsksargen consists of the provinces of Cotabato, Sarangani, South Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat.

Caraga comprises the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Augsan del Sur, Dinagat Island, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur while Zamboanga Peninsula is composed of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga Sibugay.

“We could have four states in Mindanao plus Palawan. The rest they could decide on their own because World Bank study shows that the future of the Philippines is actually the future development of Mindanao, resources are actually here, people are actually here, they are just moving out but given the structures that would unleash the potential of Mindanao, the whole country would develop,” he said.

Under the draft federal charter proposal of the 22-member Consultative Committee, ConCom member Prof. Edmund Tayao said all regions of the country would become federated regions.

Tamayo expressed concern that the creation of more federated regions would reduce the ability of a federated region to support the operations.