HON. MOHAMAD KHALID Q. DIMAPORO

Governor, Lanao del Norte

            Lanao del Norte’s development direction is guided by its long-term vision of becoming an “a globally competitive agri-undustrial community of God loving, ecology conscious, culturally diverse people working together in peace and harmony to achieve equity and prosperity.”

            The province has gained significant ground in the pursuit of this vision. Lanao del Norte today is entirely different from the Lanao del Norte it used to be 50 years ago. From obscurity and a conflict-laden image, Lanao del Norte has transformed into an emerging investment and tourism destination in the country. Living up to its image as the land of beauty and bounty, the province produce a variety of crops and fishery products which can significantly contribute to the national economic growth when their value-addition potentials are fully harnessed. The products include coconut, corn, banana, kalamansi, fruits, high value vegetables, seaweeds, crabs, livestock, among many others.

            Likewise, the province is endowed with unique and diverse tourism destinations. The most competitive destinations are Tinago Falls in Linamon, Cathedral Falls in Kapatagan, Mighty Cave in Tagoloan, Mt. Inayawan Range Natural Park in Nunungan and the pristine beaches in Sultan Naga Dimaporo. The Mindanao Civic Center (MCC), a world class sports complex, is one of the major milestones insofar as tourism promotion is concerned. MCC has hosted big events which brought national and international delegations to get to see the real Lanao del Norte: a peaceful and progressive province. Among these events are Palarong Pambansa, Football for Peace, PBA Games, Philippine Olympic Festival, and the Philippine Amateur Boxing Olympics.

            The province has gained milestone in terms of uplifting the socio-economic conditions of its constituents by providing basic health care and other social services, access to basic amenities, livelihood opportunities and rural infrastructure. This was made possible with the implementation of major programs either in close partnership with the national government or solely provincial government initiatives.

            Sustaining our gains however, were hindered by sporadic armed hostilities perpetuated by rebel secessionists. The armed conflict between GRP and MILF on March 17, 2000, the MILF highway blockade on April 24, 2003 and the MILF attack on August 18, 2008 are major setbacks which reverted the economic and social gains of Lanao del Norte back to square one. But thanks to the quick response of national and local leaders, the unwavering support of the non-government organizations and the resiliency of our communities, the province was able to get back to its feet in less than a year. The implementation of the recovery and rehabilitation measures to respond to the aftermath of the August 18 MILF attack has gained headway and normalcy is back in Lanao del Norte.

            The province shall carry on its aspiration to be deleted from the list of 20 provinces with high poverty incidence. This is translated into its medium term development goals, viz: (1) significant increase in family income, and (2) higher and easier access to services and amenities to standards fit for a good quality of life. Along with its socio-economic goals and considering that the beauty and bounty of Lanao del Norte are natural resource based, the province shall sustain its efforts to protect its natural environment and achieved ecological integrity.

            Towards this end, the province shall pursue programs and projects that would result to the following ends: (1) increased agricultural productivity and profitability, (2) reduced vulnerability of its population to natural calamities or disasters, (3) increased economic activity and more employment and livelihood opportunities, (4) managed population growth, (5) improved access to basic and higher level health services, (6) improve quality of basic and tertiary education, (7) higher provisions for marginalized and vulnerable groups, (8) improved access to affordable housing and shelter, (9) improved household access to safe water and electricity, (10) improved coastal, marine and upland environment, (11) improved local fiscal management systems, and (12) empowered and peaceful communities.

            The Provincial Government shall continue to implement fiscal, administrative and governance reforms to ensure attainment of its medium and long term targets. One major reform is empowering, capacitating and mobilizing its various economic enterprises to become self-liquidating and thus free some resources for basic social services. The paradigm shift was initially implemented in the operation of five provincial government operated hospitals. The universal implementation of the health insurance for the provinces indigent families through the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation is a sure-fire method of addressing the needs of the poor, even as this can also be a source of revenue for the provincial and district hospitals. Streamlining of the operations of other economic enterprises are already in the drawing board.

            Another strategic reform is to provide support to the nationally initiated programs empowering municipal and barangay local government units to identify their needs and implement projects that would address these needs. The Provincial Government shared with the financial burden of the municipal government in putting up counterpart funds to these programs. Provincial Government subsidy has been provided to the following national programs: Early Childhood Care and Development, Makamasang Tugon and Mindanao Rural Development Program-Adaptable Program Loan II. The subsidies enhanced the financial capacities of the recipient municipalities to take advantage of the funding opportunities. A good track record in implementing programs and projects and the magnitude of project beneficiaries are the prime consideration in accessing the provincial subsidy.

            Strengthening the data base for barangay level planning and poverty mapping is a major policy direction of this administration. Towards this end, the Provincial Government allocated a budget for the province-wide implementation of the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS). Knowing who the poor are, where they are and why they are poor are vital in property identifying poverty reduction interventions and to put the interventions where they are needed. I personally believe that the cost of CBMS implementation is worth the investment in the long term.

            This Administration shall pursue full blast implementation of its grassroots projects called “ Kabarangayan Sigurado”. In this program, barangays officials and their constituents are given the opportunity to directly air their concerns to me as the Governor of Lanao del Norte. Most of the request from the barangays have been responded to, this include; transport facility, farm to market roads, water systems, health services and community structures.

            So many things need to be done in so short a time and with very limited resources. But I firmly believe that Vision 2020 will become a reality if we put all our acts together to make Lanao del Norte a haven of peace and prosperity.