Dureza seeks more ODA for Mindanao

DAVAO CITY – A leading political figure in Mindanao wants to tap more official development assistance (ODA) loans and grants, with or without the official budgetary allocation from the National Government.

Jesus G. Dureza, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and co-chairman of the Mindanao Working Group (MWG), said they are also looking for additional funding assistance for Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Caraga area.

"We have a proposed budget embodied in the 2006 national budget which is slightly higher than what we got last year. We are looking for more grants," Dureza said in a press briefing during the Fourth MWG meeting here.

He did not give the exact amount of budgetary allocations for Mindanao for 2006. The Cabinet-level official also did not state the exact ODA loans and grants needed for the same year.

Co-chairman of the meeting was Joachim von Amsberg, World Bank country director for the Philippines.

ODA funding is largely dependent on data coming from the Philippine side which Dureza said was only "about 30-percent complete." The MWG was formed in 2001 under the Philippine Development Forum for foreign assistance.

Under the same initiative, the Mindanao Trust Fund-Reconstruction and Development Program (MTF-RDP) was established. It now amounts to $50 million.

However, these are all pledges hinged on the ability of the National Government to forge a peace treaty with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the New Peoples Army (NPA), and the National Democratic Front (NDF).

The fund is composed of pledges worth $2.7 million from the World Bank, two undisclosed pledges from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), $13 million from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), roughly 12 million euros from the European Commission (EC), and the balance in pledges from the New Zealand Agency for International Development and the Canadian International Development Agency (Cida).

There are over 150 projects funded or proposed for funding with ODA funds exclusively for Mindanao. However, the exact amount remains unavailable.

The Mindanao peace and development initiatives is likewise linked to the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines, East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) which will establish trade and economic links the four countries.