AN INCLUSIVE growth for all people in Mindanao must be the priority consideration in creating development plans for the island region, a government official said.
Mindanao Development Authority (Minda) executive director Janet Lopoz said that during discussions on the Mindanao Development 2030, the strategies that were laid out in bringing employment to Mindanaons were reviewed to see who really gets to benefit the economic development in Mindanao.
“Questions on the quality of employment we are generating were addressed during the meeting, whether it’s a kind of employment which provides income to a few, or a kind of employment which benefits a larger community,” Lopoz said.
Lopoz added the meeting was a good venue in addressing the issue on inclusivity.
The Minda underscored the Duterte administration’s ‘Build Build Build’ program that will bring about the realization of this development plan.
For one the Mindanao Development Corridors infrastructure project that will integrate Mindanao is seen to lower the cost of business.
Lopoz added President Rodrigo Duterte also prepared projects in including low-income communities in Mindanao.
“But in order to narrow the development gap, he made sure that the poorest and vulnerable communities are able to capture economic opportunities like the barter trade,” Lopoz said.
Duterte recently issued Executive Order 64 to revive barter trade in Mindanao.
Lopos said the revival is seen to usher growth for the Tawi-Tawi economic zone covering the Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi regions, where the practice of barter trade is still relevant.
“So if you notice the president’s strategy, he is putting the elements which are strategic: for the vulnerable, the barter trade and the agro-ecozones; for the whole of Mindanao, increasing power; and that will not be sustainable without changing the form of government which is federalism,” Lopoz said.
The official added in this way, decreasing poverty incidents can be achieved.
The Mindanao 2030 (M2030) is an updated version of its predecessor Mindanao 2020, a vision of the Mindanaons timeframe 2011-2030. The M2030 is the new peace and development framework plan.
It was updated last May 2018 in order to assess the objectives of M2020.
With this revised version, M2030 aims for more inclusive growth, government planners said.