MANILA: Mindanao, the relatively poor and conflict-prone island in the southern Philippines, will be the “centerpiece” of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration agenda to transform it into a major hub of agriculture and industry, the Philippine Finance chief said on Friday.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the government has lined up massive infrastructure projects in Mindanao. Five of the flagship infrastructure projects of the Duterte Administration are in Mindanao, under the “Build Build Build” program.
These multi-million dollars projects include Malitubog-Maridagao Irrigation Project Phase 2 in North Cotabato, the Panguil Bay Bridge project, the expansion and improvement projects in Davao International Airport and Laguindingan Airport; and the much-anticipated 102-kilometer Mindanao Railway Project that will connect Tagum City in Davao del Norte, Davao City and Digos City in Davao del Sur.
He said that alongside these projects, the government is also set to complete several big-ticket infrastructure projects in Mindanao, which include the Davao City Coastal Road and Mindanao Logistics Infrastructure Network.
Dominguez said the end goal of the Duterte administration’s development efforts for Mindanao and the rest of the country is to bring down poverty rate to just 14 percent when his single, six-year term ends in 2022.
