DAVAO CITY—The provincial government of Davao Oriental is setting its eyes on lifting the province the dire straits, and the current priority programs would seek to cushion the continuing sore of being the second poorest province in the Davao Region.
Governor Corazon N. Malanyaon told local chief executives that she would be tweaking her policies to “to uplift the lives of her Davao Oriental constituents, who are still reeling from the effects of the pandemic and the current inflation.”
Malanyaon said she would be concentrating on Oplan Kalsada, Operation Ilaw, renewable energy and two programs she called Davao Oriental Beautiful and Nationalizing Davao Oriental Provincial Center.
The governor added she would prioritize the rehabilitation of roads particularly those leading to farms and tourist destinations as her economic development agenda centers on agriculture and tourism.
She said tourism could be a potential economic driver, with her program on “Davao Oriental Beautiful,” a campaign to “showcase Davao Oriental as a world-class tourism destination in the country.”
“We want people to realize that we live in a really beautiful province blessed with all these natural resources,” she said referring to the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, Mindanao’s first and a Unesco World Heritage site.
She said she has organized ten teams each with a set of heavy equipment to the 10 municipalities, taking advantage of the dry season. “Hopefully, we can deploy all equipment not later than the last week of August,” she said.
On Operation Pailaw, the governor said, the provincial government and the Davao Oriental Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Doreco) would launch a clearing operation of electric lines across the province to address frequent power outages.
Malanyaon said she hopes to improve the power supply situation in the province by tapping renewable energy. She said the province was currently discussing with a Japanese company interested in investing in a biomass powerplant.
She added she wanted it pursued as soon as possible, saying, “no tourist or investor will be interested in coming to the province with frequent power interruptions and expensive power rates.”
Malanyaon said, however, that the health needs of her constituents, especially the indigent patients, would take also center stage, as she pushing to improve the Davao Oriental Provincial Medical Center (DOPMC) a state-run hospital. Although she admitted this would not quickly get the nod of the national government, but she is determined to push the proposal.
She said the province ranked second in poverty incidence in the latest Davao Region Poverty Statistics of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Based on the PSA Davao Region Poverty Statistics released in March 2022, Davao Oriental registered a poverty incidence of 32.7 percent in the first semester of 2021, next to Davao Occidental that posted 40.1 percent during the same period.
Malanyaon presented her policies in a three-year Executive Legislative Agenda to the chief executives of 11 municipalities and one city, who attested their signature of approval to the outlined provincial development agenda for the next three years.
The town mayors gathered with designated representatives of the provincial board for the Interfacing Activity and Executive-Legislative Agenda (ELA) Formulation on Friday last week at the Lanes Hotel in Mati City.
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