Archbishop welcomes abolition of Mindanao river task force

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—Archbishop Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato said he felt relieved felt by President Benigno Aquino III’s abolition of the Mindanao River Basin Presidential Task Force created by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo which he headed.

Quevedo, a two-term president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said the task force, which monitored the Mindanao river basin that covers a wide area of marshland and river systems in Central Mindanao, was disbanded by President Aquino through Executive Order No.50 which Malacañang issued July 28.

Staff members of the task force said Quevedo and other officials learned of the E.O. No.50 only through the government Web site on Tuesday.

E.O. No. 50 effectively abolished the task force and transferred its functions to various government agencies, among them the Mindanao Development Authority under Lualhati Antonino.

“I can only exclaim, ‘What a relief,’” Quevedo said in a statement issued Wednesday, apparently referring to his having been virtually unloaded of his duties as chair of the task force.

The support office here of the task force did not receive any operational budget when flash floods struck the city and several towns in the adjoining provinces of Maguindanao and North Cotabato during the past three months.

“But the members and the technical working groups of the task force continued to monitor flood control projects in ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) and Central Mindanao,” Quevedo said. “It especially focused on coordinating the development of the Mindanao River Basin Integrated Rehabilitation and Development Master Plan.”

Quevedo said the task force kept the government focused on the problems of the Mindanao River Basin,  an area he described as “below the radar of government concern” in the past.

The task force still has three months to do the work expected of it at the end of which it shall give a comprehensive terminal report to the President.