Mindanao LGUs earn from new facilities

(published in the 20 May 2007 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer) 

By Rita Festin, ADB National Officer

Panabo City – When Mayor Rey Gavina steps down after his serving out the maximum three terms as a local executive, he will leave behind a legacy of improved infrastructure and facilities that will put his city “on the map” of Mindanao.

Foremost among his legacies is the spankingly new integrated bus and jeepney terminal, built at a cost of P38 million from an Asian Development Bank (ADB) concessionary loan under its Mindanao Basic Urban Services Sector Project (MBUSSP) being implemented by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Land Bank of the Philippines.

“Iyong utang namin, kung magkanong mabayaran namin in one year, kikita pa kami ng mga not less than P2 million siguro.  Ngayong hindi pa nag-operate iyong mga stalls, kumita na almost double, (We could easily repay in one year the money that we borrowed and earn a profit of maybe not less than P2million.  The stalls of the market vendors are not even set-up and yet we are already earning double our expectations.)“ says Mayor Gavina.  “Kaya malaking tulong talaga (It really is a big help).”   

The buses pay P30 per visit, while jeepneys pay P20 per visit to pick up passengers.  Local town executives have ensured that all public transport should pass the terminal as enshrined in a local ordinance passed early this year.

In Mahayag, Zamboanga del Norte, it is a similar success story of improved revenues and modern infrastructure.  Its newly-built municipal hall was funded with a P14-million loan from the project. From being the dirtiest municipality in Mindanao in 1997, with a 1960s-built municipal town hall, Mahayag has turned around its image to become the second cleanest municipality in the province last year. The town mayor says the building has directly helped Mahayag raise more revenues, which in turn led to their being recently upgraded to a third class municipality.

DILG Assistant Secretary Austere Panadero was so impressed by the building that he called it the “best municipal building in the whole Mindanao” during its inauguration in 2005. “We are proud of this building. Before, Mahayag looked like it was left behind,” declares Mayor Paulino Fanilag. “Now, no more. People pay their taxes because they can see where their taxes go.” Town revenues in 2005 increased by at least 12 percent as compared to 2004. 

And as a result of capacity building seminars under MBUSSP, the town will now construct on its own a potable water supply system to be sourced from its water falls. 

The start up of the Project has been slow, but currently the MBUSSP sees that a large number of subprojects are under construction, in an attempt to complete these before the end of 2007. 

No less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo inaugurated the Kapatagan municipal hall in Lanao del Norte in 2006.  Jabonga, Agusan del Sur also has a new municipal hall. 

There are also the R. T. Lim public market in  Zamboanga Sibugay; Dumalinao and Alicia public markets in Zamboanga del Sur; Datu Odin Sinsuat and Buluan public markets in Maguindanao; and the Cabadbaran public market in Agusan del Sur.  Besides Panabo City, another transport terminal was also built in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.  The Naawan Water Supply was constructed in Misamis Oriental. 

When it was inaugurated in late 2005, the P46.1 million Buluan public market was the first MBUSSP urban infrastructure project in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.  Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu made sure that widows were given priority in the assignment of stalls.  The town’s effective local governance was evident in the transformation of capacity building program into infrastructure investment support with the completion of the public market, says Madonna Medenilla, ADB national officer.  Buluan public market serves as the model for replication in other LGUS in ARMM.

Other projects are scheduled for inauguration and/or completion in the coming months in the provinces of Maguindanao, Agusan del Norte, Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, North Cotabato, Zamboanga del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, and Surigao del Norte.  There is also the new P67.16 million transport terminal In Kidapawan City.   

In Ozamiz City, a new and modern two-storey public market will soon be built to replace the existing public market which is so dilapidated that during the rainy season, its women market vendors often joke it rains both inside and outside the building.   The project has also built municipal gymnasiums in three towns and provided heavy equipment in two other towns. To date, DILG has 20 completed subprojects worth more than P580 million. 

“The MBUSSP is among the initiatives being undertaken by the government to improve the quality of life in Mindanao by institutionalizing the capacity of LGUs to provide its constituencies with infrastructure and other essential services,” according to DILG Asec. Brian Yamsuan when he inaugurated the Panabo City transport terminal.   

MBUSSP covers the construction and rehabilitation of public markets, gymnasiums, transport terminals, cultural centers, water supply and municipal buildings to benefit 11 provinces, covering 30 to 40 LGUs.  Aside from the infrastructure and investments component, it also has an institutional capacity building component to help LGUs better manage and sustain the infrastructure projects. 

“Project beneficiaries are mostly poor communities in Mindanao who would gain better access to basic services in their respective localities,” says Florian Steinberg, ADB Urban Development Specialist.   

Before the realization of the transport terminal in Panabo City, Mayor Gavina would be awed by the transport terminals of other towns and he realized his town should have its own terminal, being next door to Davao City. 

“We had no terminal here in Panabo.  We just used the old gym for the terminal.  We could not accommodate the terminal jeepney bound for farflung barangays,” he said.  Besides the terminal, Mayor Gavina’s legacy includes a new City Hall and a new gym to replace the old gym that served as his town’s transport terminal for 8 long years. 

But the transport terminal will stand out as the crown jewel of his legacies as he builds islands along the national highway for the    plants and lights leading to the terminal, practically THE gateway to and from Davao City and to the whole Mindanao itself.