THE lifting of Proclamation No. 55 by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is seen to raise the business climate in Mindanao, an official from Mindanao Development Authority (MinDa) said.
In a press release sent via text message, MinDa Public Relations Division Chief and economist Adrian Tamayo stated that the lifting of Proclamation No. 55 “spells an opening of floodgate of opportunities for business investment, non-government works, and recreational travels to Mindanao”.
“Secretary (Maria Belen) Acosta mentions that this is necessary to take advantage of the plenty of mechanisms introduced by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. in raising the business climate in the country,” the statement read.
Tamayo also said that the proclamation was Acosta’s recommendation to President Marcos from the collated requests of private sectors in Mindanao to look into the travel advisories during the Mindanao Development Forum last May.
“Secretary Acosta, in response to the request of the private sector to look into the travel advisories which hurt industries owing to the limited partnership and exploratory potentials with foreign counterparts, convened various stakeholders during the Mindanao Development Forum last May to discuss the security, public safety and investment realities at the backdrop of the Proclamation No. 55 s2016,” it read.
Proclamation No. 55, which puts Mindanao in “a state of emergency in the Philippines” in response to the 2016 Davao City bombing, has now been finally lifted by Malacanang.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. through Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin signed on July 25, 2023, the new Proclamation No. 298 lifting Proclamation No. 55, which should now “boost economic activity and hasten the recovery of the local economy”.
It can be noted that Proclamation No. 55 “Declaring a State of National Emergency on Account of Lawless Violence in Mindanao” was signed by former President Rodrigo Duterte in his reaction to the bombing incident at Roxas Night Market in Davao City which left several people dead and many injured.