Saturday, October 20, 2007 Ledesma: What's Dolfo's MBN all about? By Jun Ledesma Sunbursts
IT rhymes with NBN, the graft-laced albeit aborted national broadband network negotiated multi-billion-peso deal which rocked the nation recently. But no, it has nothing shady in it because MBN, which means minimum basic needs, is actually a poverty alleviation program spearheaded by Gov. Dolfo del Rosario for families in Davao del Norte who are living in marginal income.
MBN was initiated by the governor towards the end of his term the last time he was governor of Davao del Norte. The program concept identifies families, communities and groups that can be organized into cooperatives and which the province assists to make them self-sufficient.
On his return to the capitol, Del Rosario immediately revisited the progress of the program only to learn that the previous administration has virtually consigned this to the back burner. The consolation however is that those which were started before had already flourished. A good example of this is the crab culture in one of the coastal sitios in Panabo where the number of families involved in the program had successfully propagated and fattened crabs.
Governor Dolfo is now looking for another area for a more viable enterprise for fisherfolks still subsisting below poverty levels. The last time I talked to the governor was through his cellphone. He was several meters away from the coastline on top of a raft where a team of marine aquaculture experts had been using as its base to study and monitor the quality of marine environment and the growth of various fishes that it was growing in cages.
Later he told me that he will encourage the fishermen to shift their energies to culturing fish in cages instead of the wasting away trying to catch fish from the meager and dwindling resources in the gulf area. He said that a 10-square meter of fish cage is equivalent to three hectares of inland fishpond. The quality of marine products in the ambient environment of coastal waters is also far superior. He said that the income derived from fish cage operations will virtually quadruple the income of the fishermen.
What Governor Dolfo wants to happen is to pull out families below poverty line and raise them to a condition where they can live a decent life. One where they can at least have the minimum basic needs for every member of the family. If they can improve their condition, the better.
Another area that the governor is looking at now is the establishment of livestock production centers, animal product and by-product utilization. In tandem, another group of experts will undertake a livelihood and skills development program for the targeted communities, families and individuals.
The governor's son, Anthony del Rosario, who served as vice governor of the province, had been tapped to head the team that would oversee the execution of all these plans.
What makes Governor Dolfo effective in his governance is that he is hands-on. Last September, he made good his promise to his political constituents in Davao del Norte that he will requite the overwhelming support they gave him in the last election by giving all his time to them. I never realized that part of that agenda is to retire from his corporate responsibility as President of the Anflo Group of companies last September.
In fact, he did better than that. He put to task his son Anthony to do the planning, organization and assisting in the implementation of the projects under MBN. Anthony is a big asset to the province. His academic training in the Philippines and abroad and experience in domestic and foreign banking and finance cannot be afforded by the province. But having been through the rudiments of barangay politics and up until he became vice governor, I think he valued more the rewards of being able to serve and see those he served getting over the hump of substandard existence and ignorance. Well, he is the son of his father.
BTW, I have been receiving calls all over regarding our suggestion that Davaowenos must undertake the construction of the Bankerohan bridge. I am amazed at the enthusiasm of people from high and low places who expressed their support. Of course there are those who think it is not our responsibility to undertake the construction of the bridge. They are missing the point. But to explain it rather bluntly we want to deliver a strong message to the national leadership that we can survive the inequity of a government that is numbed to the needs of Davao, of Mindanao.
