Aquino says public-private partnership to make Mindanao investment haven, food basket in Asia-Pacific
DAVAO CITY: President Benigno S. Aquino III said government's partnership with the private sector particularly in harnessing renewable energy sources can fully realize Mindanao's potential as a sustainable investment haven and food basket in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Chief Executive made this statement as he led the formal launching of the 42.5-megawatt Sibulan Hydroelectric Power Plant located in Barangay Sibulan in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur on Thursday.
A green project of the Aboitiz Power Corporation, the power plant is capable of delivering more than 200 million kilowatt-hours annually of clean and renewable energy to the Davao Light and Power Company to augment the power demand in this city and the provinces of Davao del Sur and Davao del Norte.
While the region abounds with bountiful harvest of fish and agricultural products, the President said Mindanao has not reached its full potential due to decades of political conflict, poverty and the recent energy shortage in several parts of the region.
According to the President, more efforts are now being undertaken to bring peace and progress in Mindanao as well as solutions to resolve the power supply deficiencies experienced by the region particularly during the First of Quarter of this year.
"The Sibulan power plant reflects a concrete step in that direction. With the active cooperation between government and the private entities, we are committed to end poverty and bring peace to Mindanao through vibrant growth and economic progress,” he said.
“We will ensure that Mindanao lives up to its name as a food basket, not just of the Philippines, but of the whole Asia-Pacific region," the President added.
In this connection, the President said he has tasked the Department of Energy to create a long-term roadmap to tap other renewable energy sources in Mindanao such as windmills and solar panels including those in Camiguin, Surigao del Sur and Davao Oriental adding that these will attract more investment, spur tourism and provide local employment.
To further address the power problem, the President also encouraged cooperation between local government units and the private sector in establishing other mini-hydro power plant projects in the region.
"These partnerships can be achieved through local business ventures in which rural communities can provide manpower while private investors supply the knowledge and technology. It is also important to rehabilitate inefficient yet still viable plants to maximize their generation capacities," the President said.
With Davao accounting for 51 percent of grid consumption, the operation of the Sibulan power plant is seen to address the estimated supply shortfall in Mindanao of some 500 MW by 2011 and 400 MW by 2014.
Among those present during the launching ceremony were Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, Davao del Sur Governor Douglas Cagas, Sta. Cruz Mayor Joel Lopez and Aboitiz Power president and CEO Erramon Aboitiz. (PCOO)
President Aquino lauds KALAHI-CIDSS member-beneficiaries
SAN JOSE, Davao del Norte – President Benigno S. Aquino III lauded member-beneficiaries of the government’s anti-poverty program KapitBisigLabansaKahirapan-Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-Cidss) here for their exemplary work to improve their lives.
Around 1,000 member-beneficiaries and residents came out to meet the Chief Executive in their newly-constructed multi-purpose shed built by funds raised through their patronage of the Kalahi-Cidss program.
The community was also able to put up its own water supply system and rough in-roads without the requisite budget augmentation from the national government.
“There are several projects here you put together that we can use as examples for other places,” the President said.
The Chief Executive vowed to provide additional financial assistance for their other projects such as the construction of farm-to-market roads now that government funds are being utilized properly.
“We have realized a lot of savings since we started using our funds more judiciously,” he said, citing funding anomalies in the Departments of Agriculture and Public Works and Highways that are being investigated and cancelled.
The President said the funds that would’ve gone to waste can now be realigned to fund more important projects such as school buildings and salaries of health workers.
He promised to continue taking the straight path and to work tirelessly to improve the lives of the Filipino people. “With good governance, I can promise that your problems will be much less,” the President said.
The KALAHI-CIDSS is a community-driven development (CDD) project that aims to empower communities through their enhanced participation in community projects that reduce poverty.
It strengthens community participation in local governance and develops local capacity to design, implement, and manage development activities.
Community grants are used to support the building of low-cost, productive infrastructure such as roads, water systems, clinics, and schools. (PCOO)
President Aquino bares additional funding for anti-poverty program
STO. TOMAS, Davao del Norte – President Benigno S. Aquino III bared today two additional funding sources to increase the coverage of the government’s poverty alleviation program, the KapitBisigLabansaKahirapan-Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-Cidss) to include 1.3-million more Filipino families.
In a speech before some 2,000 residents at the municipal gym here, the President said the new funding sources are part of the administration’s renewed drive to garner more funding sources through public-private partnerships.
Without specifying an amount, the President said the World Bank had agreed to provide fresh funds for the Kalahi-Cidss program, one of three poverty alleviation measures the government is implementing through the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The other two programs are the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) which allocates conditional cash grants to qualified families provided certain requirements concerning maternal health and the education and health of their children, are met; and the Self Employment Assistance-Kabayan (SEA-K) – a sustainable livelihood project that aims to enhance the socio-economic skills of qualified Filipino families.
The President said that this funding source would be used so that four more municipalities in Region 11, of which Davao del Norte is part of, will be included in the Kalahi-Cidss program.
The President pointed out that the number of additional Filipino families who will get the chance to improve their lives through the anti-poverty program is still far from his target of 4.6-million families.
President Aquino added that the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an innovative and independent U.S. foreign aid agency that is helping lead the fight against global poverty will give a total of P5-billion for the Kalahi-Cidss program.
“All these steps that we are taking to address poverty in our country is being done to ensure that no Filipino is left behind on our way to progress,” he said.
“This is proof that poverty alleviation is on top of our administration’s priority list of programs to help improve the lives of our people,” he added.
The President lauded the member-beneficiaries of the government’s poverty alleviation programs here for their efforts to improve their lives through sheer faith and perseverance and hoped others would emulate their example.
He called on them to further strengthen their resolve to improve their and their neighbour’s lives so that critics of the government would see for themselves that its poverty alleviation programs work. (PCOO)
