Mindanao power crisis should be next president’s priority – Poe

by Hannah Torregoza October 26, 2015

Senator Grace Poe Llamanzares yesterday said the country’s next president should give priority to addressing the worsening power crisis in Mindanao.

Poe, who is running for president in the May, 2016, national elections, said Mindanao’s power crisis has hindered the region’s progress and the government has neglected to sustain efforts to address its worsening problem on electricity.

“This is a burgeoning problem that many in government had actually anticipated but barely did anything about. The next administration should have a fresh start at taking this problem by the horns and solving it,” Poe said in a statement.

Mindanao, she stressed, has the continuing potential of opening up to Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand for more trade and business for the country but sadly, “this has yet to happen.”

“Despite its potential to become an international gateway for the Philippines in the south, no sustained efforts have been made to make it a reality,” said the senator.

Poe said she supported the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro precisely because she shares the common dream to achieve a truly strong and united country that realizes the aspirations of the Muslim brethren in Mindanao and a nation as a whole.

In fact, she also filed a resolution urging the Senate to conduct an inquiry into the government’s overall development program for the region.

“Mindanao is an important region in the country and we must ensure a comprehensive and fitting development program for the region and its people,” Poe said.

Poe stressed Mindanao’s development cannot go wrong if the national government pays more attention to it.

“With its vast potentials, rich natural resources and, most importantly, its resilient and hardworking peoples, Mindanao cannot go wrong if only the national government gave it more attention,” Poe said.

Citing a report by the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), Poe said that five of the top 10 provinces with the highest incidence of poverty in the Philippines come from Mindanao.

This highlights lack of support from the national government for the poverty-stricken region, Poe said.

The senator said the continued high degree of poverty incidence in Mindanao, particularly in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Zamboanga del Sur, Sarangani and North Cotabato, “should be a cause for alarm for the government.”

Worse, she said, is the inclusion of North Cotabato in the roster, while Lanao del Norte, Maguindanao, Zamboanga del Sur and Sarangani remain in the list.

In the NAPC report released this month, Lanao del Norte remains the country’s most impoverished province with a high poverty incidence of 67.3 percent or six in every 10 of its inhabitants have income that fall below the poverty threshold or cannot even afford to provide themselves with basic needs.

Maguindanao, which has reeled from the debilitating effects of violence such as the 2009 Ampatuan massacre and the Mamasapano tragedy earlier this year, was listed as the fourth poorest province in the Philippines with 54.5 percent poverty incidence.

Zamboanga del Sur, Sarangani and North Cotabato were fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, in the roster of poorest provinces. The other provinces in the list were Eastern Samar at second; Apayao, third; Negros Oriental, eighth; Northern Samar, ninth; and Western Samar, 10th.

Poe said the inclusion of Sarangani, Zamboanga del Sur, and North Cotabato, provinces which are not within the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and which enjoy relative peace and order, “is a clear indication that the problem is not only about peace and order but is more about the lack of focus in the overall economic upliftment of Mindanao.”