Transfer of Region 12 seat to Koronadal riles traders

COTABATO CITY — President Arroyo’s popularity among influential businessmen here suffered a major setback with her March 30 order directing the transfer of all regional offices of line agencies from this city to Koronadal City, the new administrative capital of Region 12.

In fact, traders here and in surrounding Maguindanao towns are now bracing for a slump in the city’s fledgling economy, which they fear could be felt immediately after regional government offices move out, possibly after the May 10 elections.

Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, chairman of the Regional Development Council in Central Mindanao, said he himself was surprised why President Arroyo, reportedly without prior consultations with local sectors, issued Executive Order No. 304, reaffirming a previous directive on the transfer of the seat of Region 12 to Koronadal City.

"Honestly, local leaders, including myself, and the business community felt so cheated because we (were given assurances) that the supposed transfer, based on a previous order, would be shelved in favor of efforts to revive the war-devastated economy of Cotabato City and the surrounding towns of Maguindanao," Sema told The STAR.

Businessman Antonio Santos, a key official of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and owner of a big hotel here, said they are certain of "big losses" with the pullout from this city of the regional offices of government agencies.

"This is very painful because we have not even fully recovered yet from the devastation wreaked by the conflicts that took place in Central Mindanao in 2000 and destabilized our economy," Santos said.

The geographical composition of towns and provinces was realigned as a result of the creation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which now includes Marawi City and the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which all previously belonged to Region 12.

While Cotabato City is a chartered city, it is within Maguindanao, a component province of the ARMM. Residents here twice voted against the city’s inclusion in the autonomous region, first in 1990 and then in the 2001 plebiscite on the region’s proposed expansion.

A prominent Chinese-Filipino businessman, who requested anonymity, said the local Chinese-Filipino business community is convinced that President Arroyo’s March 30 order, which explicitly named Koronadal City as the new capital of Region 12, was "politically motivated."

"It is a known fact that Koronadal City and South Cotabato, which are both part of the Socsargen (South Cotabato-Sarangani-General Santos City) area are bailiwicks of the opposition. Now there is a reason for the people there to vote for President Arroyo because of the good tidings they know would come to them as a result of the transfer there of the seat of Region 12," the businessman said.