Sen. Grace Poe. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA
Presidential aspirant Senator Grace Poe has vowed to allocate 30 percent of the national budget to Mindanao if elected in the May 2016 elections.
In a statement on Saturday, Poe said peace and development in Mindanao would be her priority if elected so that “the region can catch up with the country’s economic momentum and build on its potential as a tourist destination.
“Let us give Mindanao what is due them. It’s been neglected for so long. People in Mindanao deserve the same support and attention that people in Metro Manila or Luzon are getting, if not even more,” Poe said in a statement on Saturday.
READ: What to solve first in Mindanao: Poverty or security?
The presidential aspirant said she would prioritize Mindanao, which has the highest poverty incidence in the Philippines.
“Mindanao is my priority. Just like any parent would prioritize a child that has more needs, I believe that the government needs to invest more in Mindanao and give it more development projects. Growth must be inclusive and must leave no one behind,” the senator said.
During the fourth quarter of 2015, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said hunger incidence in Mindanao was at 13 percent, with some 658,000 families experiencing hunger.
READ: Self-rated poverty down in Mindanao, but…
A 2012 survey by the National Statistical Coordination Board showed that the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) remains the poorest among all regions, with nearly half of its population living below the poverty line.
The survey also listed 10 Mindanao provinces among the 16 poorest provinces in the country, with Lanao del Sur having a poverty incidence of 67.3 percent.
Other areas in Mindanao included in the bottom poor cluster are Maguindanao, Zamboanga del Norte, Saranggani, North Cotabato, Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Camiguin, Sultan Kudarat and Sulu.
Poe said the lowest-ranked provinces mentioned were “conflict-ridden.”
“This is why achieving genuine and sustained peace is important, because progress and development could not exist where there is conflict. There must be a consultation wherein all indigenous and armed groups are represented,” she said.
She said that “Mindanao’s vast potentials for agriculture and agri-business must also be explored.”
Laying down improvements on these industries, she said, would lead to the creation of more jobs.
She added that also included in her priorities would be fast-tracking the construction of more powerplants to address the power problem in Mindanao.
“Ang kailangan sa Mindanao ay buhusan ng development projects at bigyan ng tamang pagbabantay,” she said.
(We need to shower Mindanao with development projects and make sure it is safeguarded.) IDL