Country’s poorest province may not be poor after all

PATIN-AY, Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur — The country’s poorest province may not be the most depressed after all.

Bank leaders here claimed that Agusan del Sur has more money deposits in all of its 34 banks than what is being loaned out to investors.

Agusan del Sur, the country’s fourth biggest province in land area, has a total of 14 municipalities and is the home of the biggest wetlands in Asia, the Agusan Marsh, which has 114,000 hectares of marshland.

Joey Gaviola, manager of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) San Francisco, Agusan del Sur branch and president of the Agusan del Sur Bankers’ Club, claimed that in 2005, the loan portfolio of all 34 banks amounted to P1.2 billion. This amount was lent to entrepreneurs in the province, mostly farmers.

"The 1.2 billion we loaned to people is the total money circulating in the province. It does not include funds from businessmen investing in Agusan del Sur who come from as far as Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos City and other big cities in Mindanao and are interested in the huge potential of agri-forestry, mining and wood industries in the province," Gaviola said.

Among the big national commercial banks operating in Agusan del Sur are: Metrobank, Allied Bank, RCBC, DBP, PNB and Land Bank. The DBP in Agusan del Sur ranked number six in the whole country in terms of new releases of fresh loans in 2005.

Gaviola will be the conference chairman of the 12th Caraga Business Conference to be held on July 27-28 at the Agusan Del Sur pavilion of the sprawling 30-hectare Provincial Government Center here.

"Current indicators showed that bank performance in the province is improving despite bleak picture of the country’s economy as a whole. This only shows that we are dong our homework to bring in fresh capital investments in the countryside, especially to the small entrepreneurs, farmers and workers of the underground economy to propel the local economies," Gaviola told newsmen and business and local government officials who attended the press conference here yesterday afternoon.

Agusan del Sur Provincial Administrator Jesus "Nanoy" Ronquillo, who represented Gov. Adolph Edward Plaza, said the provincial government’s priority is comprehensive convergence of stakeholders from both public and private sectors to develop the province’s agriculture, forestry and mining sectors.

Edilberto Bernal, past president of the Agusan del Sur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the provincial government is making the right moves in attracting local and foreign investments by giving tax holidays and incentives to investors.

This is the third time that the province hosted the annual Caraga Business Conference where businessmen meet to strategize economic development in the region.

Bernal said among the new investments coming in to Agusan del Sur is the 6,000-hectare palm oil plantation, two new big wood processing plants from Cebu City, development of 12,000-hectare banana plantation and the ongoing construction of the most modern bus terminal in the region in San Francisco town, which will be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities for business travelers, local and foreign tourists and ordinary commuters.

Eastern Mindanao Business Council secretary general Carlos Valentin Velasco said Agusan del Sur’s nearness to Davao City, now one of fastest growth areas in Mindanao, if not in the whole of country, is an advantage because Agusan del Sur can supply agri-forest, mineral and vegetable products, and even manpower to the booming economy of Davao.

One of the biggest agricultural schools in the region, the Agusan del Sur College of Science, Agriculture and Technology (ACSAT), located at the heart of the province in Bunawan town, is offering very affordable and accessible courses in agriculture, technology and science to poor students from poor families.

Scholarship grants are also offered to poor but deserving students.