GRANT FOR MINDANAO DEV’T. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III (left) and EU Delegation to the Philippines Chargé d'Affaires Thomas Wiersing exchange documents on Friday (July 17, 2020) for the EU's PHP3.4-billion grant for Mindanao's development. The EU extended PHP2 billion for the Mindanao Peace and Development Program - Rise Mindanao (Minpad - Rise Mindanao) and PHP1.4 billion for the Support to Bangsamoro Transition Program. (Photo by Joann S. Villanueva)
MANILA – Mindanao’s farm productivity and strengthening of institutions in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) got a further boost through PHP3.4 billion (60.5 million euros) worth of grants from the European Union (EU).
Specifically, the Mindanao Peace and Development Program - Rise Mindanao (Minpad - Rise Mindanao) received a PHP2-billion (35.5-million euro) grant and the Support to Bangsamoro Transition Program (Subatra) received PHP1.4 billion (25 million euros).
During the exchange of financing agreements (FAs) ceremony held at the Department of Finance (DOF) on Friday, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the grant allows Mindanao to reach its potential.
“This support is timely, as the effects of the Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic in Metro Manila and other highly urban communities remind us of the urgency of promoting economic growth in areas of the country that have been overlooked and underserved for far too long,” Dominguez said.
He said the provision for Minpad - Rise Mindanao would ensure job creation, strengthen inclusive and sustainable growth, and promote peace in the country’s second largest island group.
Meanwhile, the allocation for the BARMM transition program would improve the Bangsamoro government’s three branches, as well as civil society organizations in the region.
Dominguez said the BARMM is a “historic initiative that is closely being observed globally.”
“We must do all we can to make this political development successful and let it serve as a model for other countries burdened with seemingly intractable internal conflicts. With the support of the European Union, we will advance this initiative,” he said.
During the same event, EU Delegation to the Philippines Chargé d'Affaires Thomas Wiersing said the EU “has been a reliable, impartial and committed partner” in the goal to achieve peace and development in Mindanao.
“These two agreements reaffirm the commitment of the European Union in contributing to peace and development in (the) Southern Philippines. The EU has been a major actor in Mindanao in promoting peace, human security, and development over more than two decades,” he said.
Wiersing said the five-year funding for the development of Mindanao would ensure economic expansion in the southern Philippines.
He said the EU’s grants to Mindanao have reached about 50 million euros in the past five years.
Of the amount, Wiersing said about 15 million euros could be re-oriented to programs to address Covid-19 in Mindanao.
“This is, for the moment, something that we still are in consultation with the government,” he said.
During the same event, Finance Undersecretary Mark Dennis Joven said other grants for Mindanao are in the pipeline but he declined to elaborate, noting that the government is still in talks with the proponents. (PNA)
