Arroyo taps donor groups for Mindanao rehab efforts

DAVAO CITY — President Arroyo has called on donor communities and other funding agencies to help in her administration’s efforts to rehabilitate war-torn areas in Mindanao.

"Budget constraints have somehow affected government programs for our needy and impoverished countrymen. We could not rely on the budget alone. We need the help of the donor agencies," the President said during the opening of the Ahon Bayan Rehiyon Mindanao Projects Fair at the Grand Men Seng Hotel here last Thursday afternoon.

Ahon Bayan, an initiative which the President started in 1998 when she was the social welfare and development secretary, involves non-government organizations, the international donor community and other funding agencies in the implementation of various social and development projects in the countryside.

The President said such projects should not only tap overseas development assistance (ODA) from foreign governments but also corporate foundations.

The President arrived here late Thursday afternoon for the last leg of her four-region swing in Mindanao that brought her to Marawi City, Columbio in Sultan Kudarat and Kidapawan City in North Cotabato.

She told her audience here, who included members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of international funding agencies such as the United Nations Development Program and the United Nations International Children’s Fund (Unicef), that rehabilitation projects are under way in communities affected by hostilities between military and Moro rebel forces last year.

The President has created a task force called Interact-Mindanao to oversee the rehabilitation projects.