Mindanao jitters

MANILA, Philippines — The business community in Mindanao has become jittery over what is happening in the political landscape – particularly due to the recent arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte and the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte as well as the upcoming midterm elections.

After all, it is not every day that a Mindanaoan is elected president and vice president of the Republic.

Having two Mindanaoans in the highest positions of the land served as game changers for the South, or at least the promise of it. Both father and daughter were familiar with southern politics as well as the intricacies of dealing with Muslim Mindanao.

Mindanao has also always been at the losing end in terms of wealth distribution, including infrastructure development. It has a large share of the country’s poor population, with some regions exhibiting poverty rates significantly higher than the national average. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in fact is said to be one of the poorest regions in the country, with its provinces said to be on top of the list of the 25 most deprived provinces in the Philippines.

Mindanao’s economy has always faced mounting challenges, including limited access to markets, infrastructure deficits, land issues, peace and order problems, to name a few.

According to the Department of Budget and Management, the share of Mindanao to the country’s total number of poor families and individuals has been on an increasing trend, from 36.8 percent in 2006 to 40.4 percent in 2015. Its share of the budget has remained more or less around 11.45 percent on the average, which is less than Mindanao’s contribution to the economy which averaged 15.3 percent from 2007 to 2018.

The United Nations Development Program earlier said that life expectancy in Mindanao is 63 years, shorter than the 66 and 67 in Visayas and Luzon, respectively. The gap, it emphasized, is more marked in BARMM where the life expectancy is lower than the national average by at least nine years.

BARMM also had the least number of health workers and barangay health stations in Mindanao as well as the highest drop rate and lowest cohort survival rate in public elementary schools and least number of preschool and elementary schools and fewest enrollees in secondary schools at one point.

Mindanao in fact produces one-fourth of the country’s total output of mineral products. It is said to have the best climate in the country and its soil conditions are excellent for agricultural production. It is a major source of rubber, cacao, pineapple, bananas, coffee and cassava and its share of national production of these crops has reached over 70 percent. Mindanao has also accounted for 42 percent of fish production.

The island region also has significant oil reserves and sources of hydroelectricity.

The Mindanao Development Authority (MDA) has continuously called for an equitable budget share to achieve greater impact on poverty reduction and economic growth. It emphasized that public investment in infrastructure, economic growth, and poverty reduction come hand in hand in ushering sustainable development, as it cited a World Bank study which stated that in order to ease infrastructure constraints, the country needs to increase infrastructure investments to at least five percent of its gross domestic product.

Mindanaoans are now pinning their hopes on of their own – Special Assistant to the President Antonio Lagdameo Jr. and MDA chairman Leo Teroso Magno who has also served as presidential assistant to the President for Eastern Mindanao – to remind President Marcos of their plight and of government’s promise to alleviate poverty, promote peace and order, and increase public investments in the region.

But they have noticed that Lagdameo and Magno have been extremely silent. Political fence-sitters say that they seem to have chosen the path of non-involvement, choosing to be tight lipped when closing of the ranks has become a necessity.

Unless they step forward, their silence is bound to be interpreted any which way, and chances are it will be good not only for the President but for Mindanao especially.

Unfortunately, the arrest of former president Duterte and the Vice President’s impeachment has left Mindanao hanging. Even the business community in the region has generally adopted a wait-and-see attitude in so far as investments are concerned lest their actions be misinterpreted.

In politics, nothing is permanent after all. Friendships and loyalties come and go. Businessmen do not want to be identified politically, in case the tides turn the other way.

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