TAGUM CITY — “Building a Better Mindanao” was the call that Mindanao Development Authority (MinDa) Secretary Leo Tereso Magno pitched during his recent visits in Davao del Norte, attending separate events on agrarian reform and on sustaining peace.
Magno was referring to the “Building a Better Mindanao” campaign that the MinDa Board of Directors adopted through a resolution passed during the 20th MinDa Board Meeting on March 24, 2025, in Davao City.
Information from MinDa said that such a campaign “captures the agency’s commitment to sustainable development, regional integration, and economic acceleration, while aligning with the national government’s policy agenda,” and that it sets the vision of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to position Mindanao as a key engine of economic growth.
In his message during the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) distribution of titles and Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgages (CoCroms), Magno viewed the DAR activity as a way leading towards calling Mindanao “a land of fulfilment”, and no longer “a land of promise.”
“Sana ipagpatuloy po ninyo ito upang hindi na po kami tatawaging lugar ng pangako kundi, matawag na kami ng lugar ng katuparan at lugar ng kaganapan,” he said specifically addressing DAR Secretary Conrado M. Estrella.
In a ceremony on July 24 in Panabo City, Davao del Norte, attended by Estrella, DAR distributed land titles and CoCroms to some 9,500 agrarian reform beneficiaries, covering over 16,210 hectares with a total condoned debt amount exceeding P716 million.
Meanwhile, in attending the Davao del Norte 3rd Anniversary Insurgency Free Status on July 25, Magno made the same call for support to “Building a Better Mindanao”, which he described during the occasion as “an advocacy promoting a way of life for us here in Mindanao.”
“Matagal na po tayo dito sa Mindanao (We have been staying quite long in Mindanao), and we have been wishing for a Mindanao that is peaceful; we have been wishing for a Mindanao that is stable; lugar na may kapayapaan (a place where there is peace,” he said.
He enjoined all national line agencies and all local government units in Mindanao to support such campaigns anchored “on the shared vision for lasting peace, institutionalized resilience, and empowered communities” in Mindanao.
“By making sure that peace and order reigns in our province, and reigns in Mindanao, we are ultimately trying to build a better Mindanao, making lives better for the people not only in Davao del Norte, but for the entire Mindanao,” he said. PIA DAVAO