North Cotabato’s glory days FOUR CABINET MEMBERS FROM NORTH COTABATO

By Manny Piñol

North Cotabato, a province which is now listed as among the poorest in the country, may finally have its glory days.

The reason?

Four members of incoming President Rody Duterte’s official family are from North Cotabato, three of them occupying regular and very important cabinet portfolios.

The fourth cabinet secretary from North Cotabato to be appointed yesterday is Dr. Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial of M’lang town who will replace Health Sec. Janette Garin.

Dr. Ubial, who is personally known to President Duterte, belongs to the huge Buenaflor family whose uncle, Rodolfo, once served as mayor of M’lang.

Her second cousin, Luigi, is also a former mayor of M’lang who took over from me when I was elected Governor of North Cotabato.

Of course, earlier I, also a native of M’lang, and Perfecto Yasay, Jr., of Midsayap, North Cotabato were given the agriculture and foreign affairs portfolio, respectively.

The third Cotabateño to be named member of the Duterte official family was retired police general Jaime “Bong” Morente who was named Bureau of Immigration Commissioner.

Bong Morente is from Midsayap and is married to the niece of the late Governor Rosario Diaz.

This is a dramatic development for North Cotabato most of whose political leaders campaigned hard for Liberal Party presidential candidate Manuel Roxas III.

Despite the efforts of the LP leaders of North Cotabato to campaign for Roxas, with Carmen town Mayor Rogelio Taliño even threatening to slap people who would vote for Duterte, the voters defied them and gave 80% of the votes to President Duterte who received 395,977 votes to just over 67,000 for Roxas.

These could be the glory days for North Cotabato, especially my hometown M’lang which is a rice producing town and also known as a town with a very high incidence of renal diseases.

North Cotabato which previously left the club of the poorest provinces in the country when the poverty incidence was reduced from 52.6% in 1998 to only 29% in 2007, is now listed again as one of the poorest provinces in the country with a poverty incidence of over 44%.

The growth of agriculture in North Cotabato has slowed down with the average yield of rice per hectare not even hitting 4-metric tons per harvest and the prices of rubber falling from over P90 per kilo to only P19 now and oil palm from a high of P8 per kilo to only P3.60 now.

With four North Cotabateños in President Duterte’s team now, I believe the province will have its golden years and hopefully, along with other areas all over the country, we will be able to lift our people up and out of their miseries and poverty.

To God be the glory!

#Changeiscoming!

(Composite photo clockwise shows the agriculture secretary, the immigration commissioner, the foreign affairs secretary and the health secretary. John Pagaduan)