Mindanao hopeful for doubled 2019 budget
More funds for infrastructure development brings hope to Mindanao, as the share of the region in the national budget is expected to more than double the 11.45 percent it received in the previous years.
Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) chair Abul Khar Alonto shared this good news to reporters in an interview last April 6, 2018. According to him, Mindanawon lawmakers informed him that a 24 percent share for the region in the 2019 proposed national budget was feasible.
Alonto also noted that the additional share in the budget will be mostly allocated to the implementation of high priority projects in Mindanao. These development projects — which include airports, seaports, road projects, bridges, schools, and hospitals — are necessary for the Philippines to catch up with its Southeast Asian neighbors.
Moreover, Alonto said that the budget increase will also focus on ecotourism, small and macro enterprises (SMEs), and other projects aimed at alleviating poverty in the region.
The proposed budget comes with an additional P603 billion as well, and this will be used to fund the priority projects of the Mindanao Development Corridors (MinDC) including the Trans-Mindanao High-Speed Railway system.
Over the last decade, Mindanao’s 11.45 percent share in the national budget is less than the southern region’s average contribution of 15.29 percent to the Philippine economy since 2007.
It is definitely high time that Mindanawon lawmakers stood up and voiced their support for MinDA’s proposed additional budget of P1.35 trillion, which will be spread out over a four-year period.
via Manila Bulletin / Antonio L. Colina IV
