The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), a member of the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Program (BPBPP), has completed a series of consultations with Local Government Units (LGUs) and regional directors of line agencies for the implementation of the program in Mindanao.
After my trip to Lanao Del Norte to consult with Governor Imelda Q. Dimaporo and several mayors and Kalawit, Zamboanga del Norte Mayor Salvador Antohado, jr. on May 27 and 28, I travelled by land from Mindanao to Manila over the weekend for a series of meetings with Senator Christopher Lawrence Go, the main proponent of the program, and the BPBPP Council Secretariat headed by National Housing Authority (NHA) General Manager Jun Escalada.
I will present to them the concerns of the LGUs, specifically Lanao del Norte and Zamboanga del Norte, so that these will be taken into consideration as we stage the Roll-Out of the three model resettlements.
Let me clarify that, contrary to earlier reports that Balik Probinsya has already started in Mindanao, not a single family has yet returned to Mindanao under the program.
I would like assure our people that with my long experience in governance and involvement in crisis management, I will not initiate a program without the needed consultations with all parties involved.
The most important guiding philosophy I have embraced in governance is to build programs from the ground up and that the most solid foundations of any program are those which are made up of the dreams and aspirations of people who will be affected.
The Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Program is a noble undertaking which will correct the flawed development planning of government for so long.
MinDA, under my leadership, will see to it that it will succeed in Mindanao and we hope that by doing this, we will be able to provide a template for Balik Probinsya communities in other parts of the country.
(Photo taken yesterday at the Batangas Port after a three day trip by land and sea from Mindanao.)
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