Leaders of the 25 towns of Zamboanga del Norte, a perennial member of the country’s 10 Poorest Provinces, gathered for two days this week to finally draw a road map which aims to reduce the poverty incidence in the province from 56.1% to only 30% at the end of the term of President Rody Duterte.
All of the towns, except for about five, were represented by the mayor, the vice mayor, the municipal agriculturist, the municipal planning and development office and the municipal engineer while the provincial government was represented by the vice governor, the provincial administrator and the provincial agriculturist.
Getting all of the political personalities of a huge but poor province under one roof for two days was not an easy task, especially so since there is a deep political division in Zamboanga del Norte between the Liberal Party under incumbent Governor Roberto Uy and the Jalosjos clan which has controlled the province for decades.
Both groups did not support President Duterte in the last elections and Zamboanga del Norte was one of at the three provinces in Mindanao where he lost.
The Zamboanga del Norte Agricultural Planning Workshop was organised shortly after I met with at least 14 of the 25 mayors in Tangub City two weeks ago when I invited them to a short meeting.
Talking to the Mayors, I came to realise that there was no synchronisation of the different towns’ development plans and priorities in agriculture and fisheries and each was virtually left on his own to survive.
I felt sad that a province with so much potentials for food production is bedraggled by intense political rivalries which stunted its growth.
Zamboanga del Norte is a very rich fishing ground and a kilo of “Tamban” could sell for only P5 during peak fishing season.
The irony of it is that there are no ice plants and the only cold storage construction during the previous administration has not been completed because of political squabbling.
It was then when I directed Department of Agriculture Region IX Director to gather all of the municipal officials of the province in a neutral venue to finally draft and craft a viable province-wide development plan for agriculture and fisheries.
When I talked to the participants cramped in the small meeting area of the modest Northwind Hotel in Cebu City, the venue of the workshop, I asked all of them to forget for a while that they are politicians and think of themselves as leaders of their people.
The final day was very dramatic as every town was allowed to present their plans and programs that would contribute to the reduction of the poverty incidence in the province by 26% at the end of the term of President Duterte.
The presentation, discussions and interactions were so animated that I did not even realise that I actually spent 8-hours straight talking, interacting and discussing with the local officials.
There were laughters, there were tears but most of all at the end of the workshop, both the Christian and Muslim leaders of the province prayed for the success of their mission which is to end the poverty in the province once and for all.
The results of the inputs of all the municipalities will be dissected and analysed by development experts of the Department and in three weeks time, the 5-Year Road Map of Agricultural and Fisheries Development of Zamboanga del Norte will be ready for distribution and of course, implementation.
(Photos by Mayette Tudlas.)
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