DAVAO CITY—The country’s tuna capital entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to become the eighth Philippine city to undergo the agency’s Cities Development Initiative.
The undertaking would have the USAID working closely with city governments outside Metro Manila “to fulfill their potential as engines of inclusive, sustainable and resilient growth.”
Mission Director Lawrence Hardy II said the agency and the partner cities “work together to develop and implement city action plans to boost economic growth, improve health and education and strengthen environmental resiliency.”
Hardy signed for the USAid and General Santos City Mayor Ronnel Rivera signed for his city.
“Today’s signing demonstrates both parties’ commitment and mutual responsibility to pursue inclusive and resilient economic growth in the city and surrounding localities,” Hardy said.
In signing the MOU on November 27 this year, General Santos City became the eighth and newest partner of USAid in the city’s development program.
The city information said General Santos City’s partnership with the agency was not new. In the late-1990s USAid supported an extensive infrastructure program in Mindanao, “contributing to the construction of the key economic infrastructures in the city, including the General Santos International Airport, Makar Wharf and several major roads.”
“The vibrant relationship between our two governments helped transform this city into a gateway to the Central Mindanao region,” Hardy said.
Rivera said that apart from the benefits of receiving assistance “on the most urgent needs of the city, we now have a partner who will provide a progressive perspective to help us achieve inclusive and resilient growth for General Santos City.”
The USAID’s Cities Development Initiative has also included Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, Legazpi, Puerto Princesa, Tagbilaran, and Zamboanga.
Hardy met midwives, clients and Department of Health representatives at the private Goldenstate Maternity Clinic during his November 27 to 29 visit to General Santos City. He said the USAID has programs “to improve access to quality reproductive health services and to help reduce maternal and child mortality.”
He visited centers, where literacy programs for the children of the B’laan tribe are being undertaken by USAID grantee Conrado and Ladislawa Alcantara Foundation Inc. The program has 8,600 B’laan learners.
He signed an MOU with three colleges and universities in General Santos City and South Cotabato “to conduct joint research activities for conserving Mindanao’s rich biodiversity,” as he also met officers of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’s Regional Protected Area Management Board “to identify new ways, including private-sector engagement, to conserve and manage the region’s precious natural resources.”