CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Northern Mindanao continues to dominate all other regions in southern Philippines in terms of economic growth, the chairman of the Regional Development Council-10 (RDC-10) said.
Iligan City Mayor Lawrence Ll. Cruz reported that among the six regions in Mindanao, Northern Mindanao is “the consistent fastest-growing economy in Mindanao, except in 2009 when we experienced economic slowdown due to the global financial crisis.”
Cruz said the region, which encompasses five provinces, nine cities, 84 towns, 2,022 barangays and 13 congressional districts, contributes 28.1 percent of Mindanao’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP), followed by Region 11’s 25.8 percent; Region 12, (19.4 percent); Region 9 (14.7 percent); Region 13 (7.3 percent); and ARMM (4.8 percent).
“Northern Mindanao has the third-highest per capita GRDP throughout the country,” he said.
Northern Mindanao, which has a total land area of 20,186 square kilometers and a population (based on 2007 census) of 3.95 million, grows at an annual average rate of 1.67 percent.
But despite the region’s strong economic showing, Region 10 has the sixth-highest poverty rate in the entire country and the fifth biggest number of poor people.
“Region 10 had 17,793 more poor families in 2009 than in 2006,” Cruz said.
In order for Northern Minda-naoans to be able to feel and benefit from the economic growth, RDC-10 has developed a two-pronged strategy that Cruz dubbed “Imperatives for Northern Mindanao Development,” which was approved by the RDC-10 on December 9, 2010. It set the direction that the region would be taking in the next five years.
The first is the Polycentric Development Strategy which encourages the development of more strategic centers throughout the region for growth localization. Urban centers continue to play their role as development catalyst” and, at the same time, “support the development of emerging centers in order to form a network of centers that will improve access to economic services in the countryside,” Cruz explained.
The Spatial Development strategy allows development to “explode from the urban centers outward.” Part of this strategy is the special attention given to the development of the Cagayan-Iligan Corridor and, at the same time, supporting the development of other corridors such as the Cagayan-Bukidnon; Tubod-Ganasi, Lanao del Sur; Iligan-Bukidnon; Tangub-Ozamiz-Oroquieta; Tubod-Kapatagan-Aurora; and Tukuran-Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte.
“We are confident we can realize our vision as we have a lot of competitive advantages over the other regions in Mindanao and even in the Visayas and Luzon,” he said. Likewise, he said RDC-10’s vision for Northern Mindanao was “to be the leading industrial core and trade center in southern Philippines with dynamic men and women enjoying equal opportunities in harnessing and sustaining its agriculture and natural resources in building a decent, harmonious and safer environment.”
RDC-10 also envisions the region “as the most competitive, efficient and attractive transshipment hub in Mindanao;” and “the leader in high-value agri-based and fishery products” in the next six years, Cruz said.
According to him, Northern Mindanao has six specific competitive advantages over other regions in Mindanao and even the Visayas and Luzon. These are strategic location, vast agricultural lands and rich natural resources, huge potential for industrial development, presence of power-generation service providers, generally secure and peaceful environment, and skilled and literate work force.
“We are confident that we can realize our vision as we have a lot of competitive advantages over the other regions in Mindanao and even in the Visayas and Luzon that contribute in making Region 10 as the biggest and fastest growing regional economy in Mindanao,” he said.
