Piñol: Let’s go back to basics
SEC. Emmanuel Piñol, the newly installed chair of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), said among the priorities of the agency is developing the economy of Mindanao, particularly the poorest areas.
In his message during the turnover of chairmanship of the agency yesterday, Piñol emphasized the need to develop the eight poorest provinces in the country that are in Mindanao by focusing on developing the areas of indigenous communities (IP) and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Mindanao (BARMM).
“(Mindanao) has been
endowed with so much resources, but productivity has been very low,” he said, pointing out that most of the areas that are very poor are IP communities who have been sidelined in the crafting of government programs.
He even cited the case of Bukidnon, a province with rich natural resources but with very high poverty incidence. He said there is a huge gap between the poor and the rich because the poor, many of the members of the IP communities, are sidelined.
He said in the case of the BARMM, the new region has developed its agricultural sector plan, with the Department of Agriculture being the facilitator. MinDA, he said, will look at how the plan can be implemented plan and ensure that it benefits the region. Piñol was formerly the agriculture secretary.
Among the key programs that he will push for implementation during his six-year tenure, Pinol said, are projects that he helped craft during his stay in the agriculture department. These include:
the plan to set up stores in BARMM villages that will be managed by widows, wives and children of former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front;
the plan of the Italian government to fund projects in Mindanao, among them the dredging of the Rio Grande de Mindanao;
the proposal of the Turkey government to capacitate local government units through training;
the plan to export premium rice varieties to Papua New Guinea;
the expansion of exporting coconut by-products, like fresh coconut water, to China, HongKong and the USA;
the plan to tap Israel to provide loans for the implementation of irrigation systems; and
the plan to export hogs, poultry and vegetables to Singapore.
“We will excel in agriculture if we invest in agriculture,” he said as among those who attended the event were officials of the Papua New Guinea.
Piñol also emphasized the need to strengthen the agency to ensure that its programs be implemented based on comprehensive studies in program implementation.
“Let us go back to the basics,” he said, citing the case of the development of the shipping route between Davao and Bitung, Indonesia which has faltered, putting the blame on the lack of strong case study as to how trading between the two areas can be sustained.
Piñol also added that his agency will review the law that created MinDA, pointing out that among those that are least represented are the IPs and Moro communities.
“I believe that we have to engage them; they are the real stakeholders,” he said, adding that the agency will focus on peace, productivity and chronic poverty.