Independence Day: More meaningful if fewer Filipinos are poor
All flags are up for independence day in Kawit, Cavite in time for June 12 celebration of the independence day. JOAN BONDOC/INQUIRER
DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Two Mindanao governors on Thursday agreed that the celebration of the Independence Day would have been better if majority – if not all – of the country’s poor had been freed from the shackles of poverty.
“It would have been a complete celebration if our people are not this poor,” Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu of Maguindanao said by phone.
Maguindanao is among the country’s poverty-stricken provinces, with a per capita income of P15,681 (2006). Its poverty incidence is about 62
percent of its population based on the 2010 data released by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).
Mangudadatu said to at least help alleviate poverty, his administration started livelihood programs and supported the education of the children of poor families.
“From these two approaches alone, we can assure that families will be able to feed their children and support other family needs. By paying for their studies, children did not have to worry about raising money just to go to school,” he said.
Mangudadatu said other programs have been introduced to open up opportunities to job seekers, such as the welcoming of investors from outside the province. Recently, a banana company had finalized its plan to put up a plantation – which would employ as many locals – in Ampatuan, Maguindanao.
“Our farmers also enjoy assistance from the provincial government and other line agencies. Aside from seed and fertilizer distribution, we are continually paving or concreting roads to make their products easier to transport to the market,” he said, citing the concreting of the Datu Paglas-Columbio road.
In Davao del Sur, Governor Claude Bautista said his administration-initiated Provincial Livelihood Assistance Program (PLAP) has been seen to be “sustainable” and that he expressed hope of reducing the province’s poverty incidence of 18.2 percent (NSCB 2010).
“First, mothers and wives are the ones listed as beneficiaries of the program. This way, we are assured that the money they got will not go to waste,” Bautista said.
At least P200 million had since been disbursed to various beneficiaries in Davao del Sur and in Davao Occidental, which continues to be under Bautista’s supervision until 2016.
Under PLAP, each beneficiary in the two provinces’ 337 villages will get P5,000 in capital for any community-based livelihood that they can think of. They will then start to pay the seed money about a month after receiving it.
Bautista said the PLAP might initially appear to be insignificant compared to other programs, where beneficiaries get thousands of pesos in capital.
“But big things start small. We are hoping to make this program successful,” he said.
Another program that he hoped would help residents of the two provinces has been the fishing boat program he had started last year.
The program aims to benefit at least 4,000 fishermen.
So far, nearly five dozens of motorized fishing boats had already been distributed to various fishing communities in the two provinces, including the city of Digos.
“We don’t just aim to provide food. We strive to give them the tools to fish,” Bautista added.
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