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BUTUAN CITY - A federal system of government is still the setup best suited for Mindanao, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III has asserted, reiterating the stand of his PDP political party stance.
“I know complicated kaayo ang problema. But I submit that there is one feasible, reasonable, doable, constitutional solution to the war that has ravaged many parts of Mindanao for centuries: and that is the adoption of the federal system of government” Pimentel said in his keynote message before some 400 delegates to the 21st Mindanao Business Conference here.
“I know there is no time to dwell into the details of such a proposal or to tackle all the issues that affect the peace, progress and development of Mindanao. We can probably have another forum for that,” Pimentel said. His keynote speech drew applause from businessmen and political leaders who attended the biggest gathering of traders from Mindanao.
Pimentel, however, admitted that promoting the federal system cannot be done by a sectoral or segregated approach.
“Promoting a federal system as lumads, Moros, and Christians is not what we needed; what we needed to advance our cause is that we will approach the Federal issue as a whole as Filipinos,” Pimentel said, speaking in the Visayan dialect before delegates to the 21st MinBizCon.
Now is the best time or golden opportunity to put money for appropriate businesses in Mindanao, according to the senator, whose family hails from Cagayan de Oro.
While Mindanao is the 19th largest island in the world, the second largest of the Philippines' more than 7,000 islands and contains one-fourth of the national population and one-third of the land area, investments here in the past came in trickles, Pimentel noted.
That time has changed, he added, because Mindanao is slowly becoming home to one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia.
“Because Mindanao is centrally located within Asia and the East ASEAN Growth Area, it is easily accessible by air, land, and sea transport” Pimentel said.
Mindanao has 38 seaports, four strategic container ports and 15 airports, two of which are international airports. It has a deep pool of skilled human resources from a population of over 22 million Mindanaonons.
Most of Mindanao is located outside the typhoon belt.
It has abundant, available, fertile lands perfectly suited for agri-industrial development and is endowed with eight major river basins, namely: Agusan, Tagoloan, Cagayan de Oro, Tagum-Libuganon, Davao, Buayan-Malungon, Agus and the Mindanao River – all of which could supply water for irrigation and other related needs.
Forty-four percent of food consumed in the Philippines comes from Mindanao.
Mindanao is also the country’s major producer of rubber, pineapple, banana and coffee.
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