New M’nao dev’t body gains ground

THE BICAMERAL conference committee last week approved a measure that seeks to form the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), with lawmakers eyeing its final ratification.
Lawmakers from the Senate and the House of Representatives have consolidated Senate Bill 3496 and House Bill 6958 which seek to accelerate growth and development in Mindanao by institutionalizing a central planning agency for the entire island.
The bill seeks to strengthen and rename the existing Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo), which was formed on March 1992 through Executive Order 512 issued by the late former President Corazon C. Aquino.
Undersecretary Virgilio L. Leyretana, Sr., MEDCo chairman, described the current body as a mere “ad hoc...coordinating” agency.
He said in a phone interview that with the passage of the measure, the envisioned new agency will not only closely coordinate with national agencies, but will implement policies and programs for the socioeconomic development of the entire island.
He said, however, that MinDA will still have to submit recommendations to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
Mr. Leyretana noted there are about 18 ad hoc bodies that have been overseeing various aspects of Mindanao development through the years, meaning they were replaced, subsumed to other agencies, or abolished altogether with a change in national leadership.
Hence, he said, the need for a more permanent structure if Mindanao’s promise as a resource-rich island is to be realized.
Camarines Sur Rep. Felix R. Alfelor, Jr. (4th district), chairman of the House panel to the bicameral committee, said the body will also act as the Philippine coordinating office for the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-the Philippines East-Association of Southeast Asian Nations Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), especially for projects of the sub-regional grouping that will be implemented in the country.
Senator Edgardo J. Angara, Senate panel chairman, agreed to a proposal by the House panel to rename the agency as MinDA, from the originally proposed name, Mindanao Economic Development Authority (MEDA), saying development on the island should not be understood as being confined to the economic sphere but should also embrace the social and political realms.
MinDA will also be directly under the Office of the President and its chairman will have Cabinet rank, compared to MEDCo’s current status as being under NEDA supervision.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri and Mr. Alfelor said the measure will be scheduled for ratification by both chambers today.
Mr. Leyretana noted that it took 19 years to get the measure to where it is now. “This is not only a landmark bill because it took us 19 years to get through the legislative mill; this will have a high impact [sic] on Mindanao.”
The 8th Congress ratified the MEDA bill in 1991, but this was vetoed by the late former Pres. Aquino, who then instead issued EO 512 forming MEDCo.