DAVAO ORIENTAL – Governor Corazon N. Malanyaon’s concrete development plans, which primarily focus on poverty reduction and economic recovery, have gained massive support from all local chief executives, their respective legislators, and other development stakeholders.
During the highly anticipated Interfacing Activity and Executive-Legislative Agenda (ELA) Formulation on Friday, August 19, at the Lanes Hotel in the City of Mati, the officials of the province’s eleven Local Government Units, consisting of ten municipalities and one city, have signified to back the Governor’s ambitious plans set to be realized within the next three years.
Taking off from a high poverty incidence – the second highest in the region, Governor Malanyaon made clear her priority agenda of defeating poverty to uplift the lives of her Davao Oriental constituents, who are still reeling from the effects of the pandemic and the current inflation.
Rebuilding on a new foundation, Governor Malanyaon laid out her priority programs and development commitments soliciting support from the executive and legislative branches of all LGUs.
Among her administration’s highlight programs are:
Oplan Kalsada
While Governor Malanyaon centers her development programs on improving the economy through agriculture and tourism, she placed first on her priority list the rehabilitation of the roads, particularly those leading to farms and tourist destinations. “We hope to already get our agriculture and tourism take off,” Governor Malanyaon said.
Governor Malanyaon organized ten teams, each with a set of heavy equipment that will be deployed and assigned to each of the ten municipalities. She said the province is fast-tracking the deployment of heavy equipment to take advantage of the dry season. “Hopefully, we can deploy all equipment not later than the last week of August,” she said.
Operation Pailaw
The Provincial Government and the local electric distributor, Davao Oriental Electric Cooperative, Inc. (DORECO), are set to launch a massive clearing operation of electric lines across the province to address the frequent power outages.
Establishment of Renewable Energy Sources
As for the long-term intervention for electrification, Governor Malanyaon announced the provincial government’s plan to establish renewable sources of energy, particularly biomass. The Governor said she is exploring a partnership with a Japanese company interested in investing in a biomass powerplant poised to reduce power rates by about 40 percent while providing clean and sustainable energy.
The Governor has already organized a team to look into the program. She said she wants it pursued as soon as possible, saying, “No tourist or investor will be interested in coming to the province with frequent power interruptions and expensive power rates.”
Launching of Davao Oriental Beautiful
Recognizing tourism as a potential economic driver, Governor Malanyaon placed tourism as a major priority under her administration.
She said the provincial government has started rehabilitating all eco-tourism sites from Banaybanay town to Boston town. Governor Malanyaon noted the province will build more tourist sites as it is set to launch “Davao Oriental Beautiful,” a campaign that will showcase Davao Oriental as a world-class tourism destination in the country.
Bearing the tagline “Probinsya ko Pagwapohon ko,” to espouse a sense of ownership among the locals, she urged the mayors and the Sanggunian members to make an effort to beautify their own towns. She also encouraged them to make a comprehensive tourism plan by tapping professional experts.
“We want people to realize that we live in a really beautiful province blessed with all these natural resources,” she said. The Governor noted that the province’s crown jewel, the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, Mindanao’s first and only UNESCO World Heritage Site, will take center stage in the province’s tourism promotion.
Nationalizing Davao Oriental Provincial Medical Center
To cater to the needs of the Davao Oriental constituents, especially indigent patients, Governor Malanyaon is pushing for the nationalization of the Davao Oriental Provincial Medical Center (DOPMC), making it a state-run hospital.
Although the Governor admitted that the plan would not quickly get the nod of the national government, she is determined to push the proposal. “That way, we can avail of the resources of the national government, particularly the Department of Health, in maintaining and acquiring facilities for the use of our constituents,” she said, adding that DOPMC still lacks the facilities and trained personnel.
Aside from these highlight programs, Governor Malanyaon listed all the development priorities she is set to implement in the next three years.
The programs covered under Governor Malanyaon’s Development Agenda are:
1. Oplan Kalsada Program
2. Oplan Patubig Program
3. Oplan Pailaw Program
4. Improved Pagkain at Kita Program (IMPAK)
5. Davao Oriental as a World-Class and Premier Tourism Destination
– Sunrise Capital of the Philippines and a Beautiful, Safe, and Resilient Province
6. Establishment of Renewable Energy Sources
7. Zero Tolerance to Insurgency, Criminality, and Drug Abuse
8. Quality Education for All
9. Achieve Universal Health Care Coverage
10. PINASLAKAS Vaccination Program
11. Rural Entrepreneurship Advocacy for Change (REACh) Program
12. Best Efforts for SGLG and KALASAG Awards
13. Gender Disaggregated Data-based System – Household Profiling and Needs Assessment (HPNA-CBMS)
14. Innovative and Integrated Waste Management
15. Arrest Forest Degradation
16. Watershed Conservation and Development
17. Revenue Generation Sustainability
18. Initiate Provision of Resettlements and Housing
19. Government Rightsizing Program
20. Strong, Effective, and Responsive Governance
With the recently held Interfacing Activity, which harmonized the development directions of all key players, Governor Malanyaon anticipates the LGUs to craft their development plans and programs aligned with the provincial government.
Governor Malanyaon expressed her hopes that all LGUs and development partners will unite and support her vision for the province and do their fair share in realizing the shared dream of prosperity and development.
“Nothing indeed can be more gratifying to our constituents if such development issues and concerns will be translated to sound plans and programs that will eventually improve the lives of our people,” said Governor Malanyaon. By Karen Lou Deloso | Photos by Eden Jhan Licayan
