Arroyo certifies bill creating Mindanao body

In her bill, Legarda said in her explanatory note that “Mindanao’s unique socioeconomic and peace issues call for an agency that goes beyond regional paradigm to spearhead and integrate peace-and-development efforts at a Mindanao-wide perspective.”

Medco said that, so far, Mindanao “continues to lag behind in terms of economic growth, poverty and human development.”

Six out of the 10 poorest provinces of the country were in Mindanao, while four of the five provinces that ranked lowest in human development were also located in Mindanao.

“Compared with Luzon and Visayas, Mindanao has the highest percentage of unpaved national roads at 37.81 percent; the lowest in irrigation development at 31.5 percent and the least in terms of farm-to-market roads paved at 19.68 percent,” the Medco said.

Legarda said that while Medco has been doing planning and development work for the past 16 years, “there is a need to strengthen it and make it more permanent through the creation of the Meda, allowing for the prioritization of this development agenda.”

Medco said the bill was awaiting the final report of the joint House committees on Mindanao Affairs and on Government Enterprises and Privatization, which approved the Meda. Their report would be grilled in a plenary discussion that Congress would schedule.

Source: http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/regions/18093-arroyo-certifies-bill-creating-mindanao-body.html