Cagayan de Oro – In the latest Regional Development Council (RDC) meeting held last August 19 at NEDA Region 10 office, Lanao del Norte Gov. Khalid Dimaporo and Iligan City Mayor Lawrence Cruz were nominated as the next council chairman.

The RDC is the highest planning and policy-making body in northern Mindanao tasked to deliver decentralized development in this part of the country.

The names of both nominees will be endorsed to Malacañang Palace for President Noynoy Aquino to decide who will lead the council until 2013.

“What we need here in Mindanao is connectivity. We need better infrastructure to connect all the different communities…We need to think as one island. We need to act as one island”, challenged Senator TG Guingona.

Senator Guingona was the guest speaker for the 86th council meeting which was participated by all by the city and capital town mayors, league of municipal mayors’ president, provincial governors, regional directors of national line agencies and representatives from several professional organizations.

“I’m very interested in the RDC chairpermanship, I’m very interested in seeing Mindanao move forward…What’s important for me is our development as a region and this is my main reason for running”, expressed Governor Dimaporo.

Among the major programs and projects that the young governor will push for is the effective implementation of the Laguindingan airport, the construction of the Panguil Bay bridge, the Mindanao railway system, seaport development, regional healthcare referral system, better farm-to-market roads, post harvest facilities, and improved technology transfer for a more active small and medium enterprises (SME’s).

Gov. Dimaporo envisions the RDC to be a strong ally of the Aquino administration in helping attain the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) and in realizing Mindanao’s potential as the food basket of the country. VNL/PIO-LDN