MARAWI CITY — The Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority (BPDA), the technical secretariat of the Bangsamoro Economic and Development Councilโs (BEDC) five sectoral committees, facilitated Wednesday, Oct. 26 the consultation with Lanao del Sur provincial local government unit (PLGU) held at the Provincial Capitol in this city.
Engr. Mohajirin T. Ali, BPDA Director General and BEDCโs head of technical secretariat, said that this activity was the tenth-leg of the region-wide consultation to ensure an inclusive formulation of the 2nd Bangsamoro Development Plan (BDP) for 2023-2028.
In his presentation, DG Ali underscored that BARMM has achieved five out of six macroeconomic targets set in the 1st BDP. He also highlighted the significant drop of the provinceโs poverty incidence, in which it recorded 109,120 poor families in Lanao del Sur in 2018 to only 13,250 families in 2021.
In partnership with the Support to Bangsamoro Transition (SUBATRA) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and with the assistance of two facilitators, Maria Victoria Maglana and Eric John Matela, the purpose of the consultation was to gather information and solicit inputs and recommendations from the participating PLGU officials and representatives alongside its constituent municipal LGUs.
Further, the technical secretariats of the Development Administration Committee (DACom), Peace, Public Order, Safety and Security Committee (PPOSSCom), Economic Development Committee (EDCom), Social Development Committee (SDCom), and Infrastructure Development Committee (IDCom) assisted the two facilitators in guiding the participants during the workshop.
Board Member Ansari U. Gandamra, who represented Gov. Mamintal โBombitโ A. Adiong, Jr., led the participating officials and representatives from the provincial and municipal LGUs.
In his message, Gov. Adiong told his fellow government officials to consider themselves as important participants in the formulation of the said development plan. He further said that collaborative efforts and cooperation will contribute to the success of the said activity.
โSa ating pagtutulungan at pagkakaisa, walang balakid o hamon ang hindi natin madaig,โ he stressed as he appealed for support to enable the said PLGU to arrive at a solution that is both helpful for the government and its constituents.
โPagtibayin natin ang ating pagkakaisa at sikapin nating iangat ang antas ng pagtutulungan upang mapabilis ang pagganda ng buhay ng mamamayan ng Lanao del Sur,โ he added.
Among the municipal LGUs who participated during the one-day workshop were Lumba-Bayabao, Calanogas, Pualas, Lumbatan, Watu, Ganassi, Bacolod Kalawi, Saguiaran, Balabagan, and Kapai.
In terms of challenges, the participants shared that LDS has limited irrigation system, lack of technical skills and machineries, insufficient agri-fishery infrastructures, limited fish production, middle partiesโ control over the supply and prices of goods or products, poor implementation of solid waste management, lack of sanitary landfills, and illegal logging and quarrying. Also, the province is prone to landslides and flashfloods. Moreover, some of their proposed strategies are the establishment of nurseries; linking farmers to wider markets; provision of livelihood support to less fortunate parents; eliminate middle parties by directly buying the goods or products from producers or suppliers; and protection and preservation of Lake Lanao, Lake Dapao, and the provinceโs forestlands. (Mary Lovella Lao-Lastimosa, BPDA-BARMM)
