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POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT TRENDS
National Government's Priorities for Mindanao
Recognizing the vast agricultural potentials of
Mindanao, the central government issued the "food basket"
policy for Mindanao in mid-1998, stressing the central government's
support for Mindanao's agricultural production in line with the
Agriculture and Fishery Modernization Act (AFMA) of 1997. In 1998
through 1999, local government units (particularly the provinces)
were assisted in the formulation of their respective "food
security plans" in the context of a sustainable rural development
(SRD) strategy.
An all-out peace policy has been issued that contains
the following:
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All-out peace for
the MILF and the NDF/CPP-NPA
Implementation of poverty alleviation programs |
The government's all-out peace for the MILF and
the NDF/CPP-NPA allows for truce ("peace talks") and "cease-fires",
thus at least suspending armed confrontations between the government's
armed forces and the armed groups of MILF and the NPAs. This, at
any rate, facilitates at least some development efforts to take
place and gain momentum.
The central government's priority of implementing
poverty reduction projects in Mindanao has been long wanted and
therefore a hopeful pronouncement. While the central government
prioritizes the implementation of immediate relief and rehabilitation
projects only in Mindanao areas affected by the armed conflict in
year 2000 (that excludes Zamboanga del Sur), the Mindanao's upcoming
Mini-Marshall Plan contains Mindanao-wide implementation of development
projects.
Mindanao, unlike in previous years, is now at the
center of the development efforts of the national government - a
rare opportunity that the Provincial Government cannot afford to
pass without investing sustainable development efforts for future
generations.
Priority Development Interventions in Region
IX
The whole of Region IX (Western Mindanao: Zamboanga
del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Basilan and Zamboanga Sibugay), as
approved by its Regional Development Council (RDC-IX) has, on its
list, the following priority development interventions in the medium-term:
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Infrastructure development (road
construction and rehabilitation) |
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Telecommunications, water supply,
school buildings |
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Port development |
Other Potential Projects Within Zamboanga Del
Sur
Connecting the Zamboanga Peninsula to the rest
of mainland Mindanao is a narrow strip of land traversing the Municipalities
of Tambulig and Aurora. This is the same land mass that separates
Panguil and Illana Bays. The distance from Panguil Bay to Illana
Bay is about 8 kilometers.
Opening this channel for sea crafts will radically
boost the business activities between and among the economies of
Western Mindanao, Northern Mindanao, Central Mindanao and the Visayas.
For Western Mindanao, this would mean opening-up of new markets
for the products from Sibugay, Dumanguillas, Maligay and Illana
Bays in Zamboanga del Sur. This canal waterway will also promote
greater linkages among Western Mindanao and the Cagayan-Iligan Corridor.
This project is already pipelined for implementation
under the Kuwaiti funding. The road will traverse from Tukuran to
Karomatan. Opening of this road will give convenient access to cities
of Cotabato and General Santos, and Davao Provinces. This will spur
the economic development of Zamboanga del Sur by ably accessing
international market linkages for its local products.
The Province possesses several untapped natural
tourist attractions that are good potentials for development.
Practically, Zamboanga del Sur is still very rich
in terms of flora, fauna and marine resources where a considerable
number of species are not yet identified. In addition to these are
the vast deposits of minerals that remained untapped up to the present.
Possible ventures where raw materials can be sufficiently supplied
in the area include research works relating to the use of the existing
flora and fauna for medicines, aqua-marine products processing [canning,
agar-agar processing], cement factories, mining and quarrying of
chromium and other elements.
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