SOCCSKSARGEN traders say MinDA to boost trade ties with EAGA
(February 5, 2010)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY— Traders and key industry players in SOCCSKSARGEN (South Cotabato, Cotabato Province, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City) hoisted call for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to sign the Congress-ratified Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Act, saying the enactment of the bill is seen critical to accelerating socio-economic growth as well as strengthening the participation of Southern Mindanao in the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).
In a letter sent to Malacañang last week, private sector representatives to the Regional Development Council of Region 12 known as SOCCSKSARGEN sought President Arroyo’s immediate approval of the MinDA Bill which was recently ratified by Congress.
“We seek and request Her Excellency’s favorable consideration for the immediate approval of the said MinDA Bill. With Her Excellency’s approval, this will be a lasting legacy and a development milestone of your administration to Mindanao and its people,” read the letter, signed by key business and industry leaders of various private organizations in Region 12.
These include the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Southern Mindanao region, Federation of Outstanding Farmers of the Phils-Cotabato City, RD Foundation of Gensan Inc., and the Coalition of Social Development Organizations—Koronadal City.
Also joining the call for MinDA’s enactment are local business chambers in the region such as the Sarangani Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation Inc., Muslim Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc.-Cotabato City, and Sultan Kudarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, Inc. and other private groups such as the Nuestra Sra. Dela Paz Marcellin Foundation-General Santos City, Southern Mindanao Institute of Technology (SMIT)-Tacurong City, Yellow Bus Line Employees’
Union Gensan Drive-Koronadal City, Kidapawan City Fruit and Vegetable Growers MPC-Kidapawan City.
The MinDA Act seeks to strengthen and rename the existing Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo), which was formed in March 1992 through Executive Order 512 issued by the late President Corazon C. Aquino. If enacted, MinDA will act as the official and permanent Philippine Coordinating Office for BIMP-EAGA, a four-country grouping collectively pursuing sub-regional economic growth.
SOCCSKSARGEN traders said that MinDA will further enhance the region’s participation in the BIMP-EAGA, particularly boosting the ongoing trade and tourism ties between SOCCSKSARGEN and the neighboring North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
A permanent EAGA mechanism in Mindanao, they added is also seen to sustain the complementation and collaboration efforts of the local governments of SOCCSKSARGEN, particularly the Jose Abad Santos-Glan-Sarangani Cooperation Triangle (JAGS-CT) which has been initiating activities and establishing economic linkages with strategic neighbors in EAGA particularly in the areas of trade, transportation, SME, education, fisheries, trade and industry.
Formed in 2003, JAGS-CT is a small economic grouping in Southern Mindanao under EAGA which was established by local chief executives to develop trade, investment and tourism.
Region XII is composed of the provinces of North Cotabato, Sarangani, South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat, and the cities of Cotabato, General Santos, Kidapawan, Koronadal and Tacurong.
Overall development and growth of the region is governed by the Regional Development Council, known as the central policy-making and coordinating body on regional development efforts in which the private sector forms part.
The MinDA bill was approved by the Bicameral Committee on 19 January. The Congress then ratified its reconciled version on 26 January.
Principally authored by Deputy House Speaker Simeon Datumanong and Sultan Kudarat Representative Datu Pax Mangudadatu, the bill has the full support of the Mindanao bloc in Congress under the leadership of House Speaker Prospero Nograles, the first speaker from Mindanao.
Nograles, who championed MinDA bill since it was filed in Congress, has earlier underscored the need to consolidate Mindanao’s development.
Meanwhile, the Senate version of MinDA Bill is principally authored by Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri and co-authored by Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Edgardo Angara, Manny Villar, Richard Gordon, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Lito Lapid, Jinggoy Ejercito-Estrada, Ramon Revilla, Loren Legarda, Mar Roxas, Pia Cayetano and Juan Ponce Enrile.
The MinDA Bill has been pushed in view of the need for Mindanao to catch up with the mainstream national development. Previous advocacies for the creation of the first Mindanao Development Authority (MDA) dates back to 1960.
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