DAVAO CITY—Unless adjusted for wider development maneuver, the continuing budget cap going to Mindanao would be unrealistic to achieve the government target of reaching no less than 7-percent growth to address poverty, the government socioeconomic planning agency for Mindanao said.
“In order to address the pressing issue of poverty incidence, as well as map out the bigger picture of spurring inclusive socioeconomic growth, it is high time we conduct an in-depth analysis to identify which sectors of our budgeting needs immediate revisions so that we can meet this administration’s economic goals for Mindanao as indicated in the Dutertenomics framework,” Cagayan de Oro Rep. Maximo Rodriguez Jr. said.
Rodriguez heads the Mindanao Affairs committee at the House of Representatives.
The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Deputy Executive Director Assistant Secretary Romeo Montenegro said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has reported an increase of the budget for Mindanao, but Montenegro said “its ratio in relation to the overall national expenditure remains far from desired levels.”
“Take the national budget for electrification as an example. Mindanao gets the equal amount of budget with the other regions despite having the lowest electrification rate across the country. We need to look at the bigger gaps in Mindanao that can be addressed through strategic and equitable budgetary allocation to ensure that development is inclusive,” he said.
Montenegro said Mindanao gets roughly 12 percent of the national budget annually compared to DBM’s earlier report of 16 percent, which discounts the National Capital Region in the picture.
“This is why we are urging for DBM to assume a pro-Mindanao lens in terms of understanding how our national funding should be allocated and in pushing for a more inclusive growth in Mindanao,” Montenegro said.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said Malacañang would like to see yet the budget proposal that would be submitted to Congress by the DBM on the middle of next month. From there, the Malacanang would make its necessary recommendation , he told reporters shortly before the start of the Philippine Economic Briefing last Friday.
The MinDA said “Dutertenomics target looks at a 7-percent to 8-percent growth rate in Mindanao’s economy by 2022 but, with the current budget- allocation rate of Mindanao, which currently stands at around 12 percent out of the national total, reaching this goal may pose a great challenge.”
Rodriquez said a technical working group would review Mindanao’s allocation of the national budget for 2019 and onward, and it would be convened in Congress next week “to come up realistic context of what Mindanao truly needs, budget-wise.”
During a session with the Mindanao Affairs Committee and the DBM at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Rodriguez said the group would meet at the sideline of Congress hearings starting next week.
The committee would be composed of representatives from the Mindanao Affairs Committee, the DBM, the National Economic Development Authority and its Investment Coordination Committee and the MinDA,
Rodriguez said MinDA’s ongoing budget study would serve as a jump-start to identify the extent of the necessary amendments.
MinDA’s budget study looked at a projected P1.35-trillion increase in budget that would be spread on a four-year period. Some of the targeted industries in this amendment would cover big-ticket infrastructure projects identified under the agency’s Mindanao Development Corridors strategy, and includes Mindanao-wide transport connectivity and logistics networks, industry-development initiatives, small and medium enterprises and ecotourism.
The agency’s economic corridor strategy would include the Bangsamoro Development Corridor “which aims at deploying viable infrastructure, logistics and connectivity modes in order to reintegrate the areas of Lupa Sug, Maguindanao and Ranaw to the growth centers of the island-region.”
The Bangsamoro corridor would ensure it corresponds with the administration’s shift to a federal form of government.