Aquino wants Mindanao to become Land of fulfilled promises

Malacañang - President Benigno Simeon Aquino III on Tuesday assured the people of Mindanao of his support by pushing measures that will make the southern island a “Land of fulfilled promises”.

The President issued the assurance at the presentation of “Mindanao 2020,” a peace and development framework plan expected to be fulfilled in 20 years, 2011 to 2030.

“I am here to serve you, not boss you around. Mindanaoans are also my boss just as every citizen in every part of the archipelago,” Aquino said.

Two key advocacy groups from Mindanao, the Mindanao Lawmakers Association (MLA) and the Confederation of Provincial Governors, City Mayors and Municipal Mayors League Presidents (CONFED-Mindanao), through a joint resolution, presented the program to President Aquino today in Malacañang.

The program envisions the people of Mindanao from all cultural and socio-economic backgrounds to attain a sustainably uplifted quality of life through collective achievement of a peaceful, developed and integrated Mindanao.

Witnessing the program presentation were various Mindanao stakeholder groups from the business sector, local government, civil society, youth, peace and development advocates and donor agencies.

The key projects to be delivered in Mindanao are in the fields of infrastructure, agriculture, peace and security and poverty alleviation, among others.

“We will ensure that appropriate intervention is immediately targeted and sent to highly-impoverished and vulnerable areas. Mindanao will be at the core of our social development and poverty alleviation program, such as the Conditional Cash Transfer program”, the President said.

The President said that long-term programs are being set for internally displaced persons in cooperation with development partners such as the European Commission.

To capitalize the agricultural strengths of the region, the government will push for the agricultural development of Mindanao by transforming it into a modern agricultural center and the nation’s food basket.

Also part of the government’s programs is the harnessing of the halal industry, particularly in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) area, making Mindanao the food processing hub of the country and its neighboring nations in the Asean.

Peace being the foundation of progress, the President said he will not rest unless solutions are found for the problem of armed conflict in the region.

“Our administration is facing the challenges head-on, so that we can create a unified peaceful Philippines where our citizenry can fulfill their dreams and where the nightmare of conflict is a thing of the past,” President Aquino said. “Mindanao will be the land of promises fulfilled.”

In infrastructure development, the Chief Executive said he will be directing the director-general of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to study the feasibility of placing a central airport to make it more economically sensible.

President Aquino called on the people of Mindanao to cooperate among themselves for the realization of the said developmental project at the soonest possible time.

“Undoubtedly there will be a lot of tensions as to where to actually site this central airport. I promise you, you cooperate with each other that will be a reality sooner rather than later,” the President said. (PCOO/PIA9-BST)