The decline of Oriental Mindoro

A political earthquake could erupt this May 12 elections in Oriental Mindoro island. A maelstrom of outrage threatens to end the stranglehold on the province by two-term re-electionist governor Humerlito “Bonz” Dolor.

Dolor is being challenged by Joanna Valencia, a beauty and brains, the eldest daughter of Rodolfo G. Valencia.

RGV gave up a booming real estate business to manage Oriental Mindoro, three terms as governor and four terms as a congressman. He then went back to Manila to nurture his property business to strength. But then Oriental Mindoro spiraled into doomsday.

The political families who used to be rivals – former deputy speaker Doy Leachon, former governor and congressman Arnan Panaligan, former governor and current congressman Alfonso Umali, Jojo Perez and RGV – have bandied together and backed Joanna. They have three objectives:

• End the province’s severe power crisis that has made it the Brownout Capital of the Philippines, in two ways: 1) stop the monopolistic pricing of the province’s power provider, the electric cooperative Ormeco which is managed by the Dolor family and a cash cow for them and 2) link Mindoro by submarine cable to power sources, under the Semirara-Mindoro Interconnection Project.

• Ensure the victory of Joanna Valencia as governor; and

• Modernize Mindoro by ending the dynastic rule of the Dolor clan.

With a population of one million, one city (Calapan, the capital), 14 towns, a fertile area of 432,800 hectares (433 times the size of Makati) and just 45 kms from Batangas and 130 kms from Manila, Oriental Mindoro should be a rich and booming province, a rice granary, a food and industrial hub for bustling Luzon, the country’s main island which has 64 million. It is not.

Oriental Mindoro is at the center of the archipelago and close to Metro Manila and CALABARZON. It is a gateway to Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao through the 24-hour Roll-On, Roll Off facilities of the Philippine Nautical Highway.

The province has long stood out for its strategic advantages: location, diverse natural resources, humongous and fertile land area, lush and verdant watersheds, abundant water supply and an ideal location for processing centers and economic zones.

However, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority draw a sharp picture of dismay, decline and decay. Poverty is in double digits, at 14.1 percent, equivalent to 191,230 people. From 2018 to 2020, agriculture and forestry contracted by 18 percent; industry declined by 17.5 percent. In two years, from 2018 to 2020, the number of SME owners went down, 17 percent, from 3,618 to 2,998.

The number of schools went down 41 percent to 594 in four years to 2020. Pre-school enrolment is down 10 percent despite an annual population growth of 1.4 percent. Roads have remained stagnant in the past 10 years at 329 kms., a massive neglect of infrastructure, despite a seven-fold increase in SUVs. The province’s average income fell by 77 percent, from P1.05 billion in 2015 to P240 million.

Despite generally good weather and rich soil, production of major crops in Oriental Mindoro has either stagnated or declined. Palay production is up by just 10 percent in five years to 2020 at 430,967 metric tons, instead of up 25 percent. Fish production is down 40 percent at 9,840 MT, coconut down 46 percent to 46.539 tons; bananas, down 84 percent to 20,537 tons; calamansi, down 59 percent to 34,247 tons and hogs, down 56 percent to 45,000 tons.

The food shortage means inflation is 58 percent higher than the national average, 3.8 percent in vs. 2.4 in 2020 alone.

The people of Oriental Mindoro are hurt many ways: by high inflation, hunger (with reduced food output), rising stupidity (with school closures), declining business dynamism (with reduced SMEs and a worsening local economy).

Businessmen blame two things on the decrepit political, economic and social profile of Oriental Mindoro: 1) incompetent and corrupt management and 2) a severe shortage of electricity, brownouts of two to four hours are routine, daily.

Only one person is blamed for the severe state of things in Oriental Mindoro: Bonz Dolor, governor for the past six years. He is seeking a third term.

This early, Joanna has a game plan for a modern Oriental Mindoro. She will tap appropriate technology, capital and management expertise to make the province the Food Basket, Tourism Hub and Industrial Zone of the Philippines.

“Vital infrastructure has to be put in place, and this can be done with focus, persistence and integrity by an honest government in partnership with the private sector,” she says. “We know who these qualified private sector partners are. We have a direct line to them.”

Her road map to progress includes:

• Power and energy – sufficient and affordable power.

• Agriculture and agro-industrialization – Food Basket of the Philippines; agro-industrial ecozones, a national government ally for a food secure Philippines.

• Tourism/Agri-tourism – A top tourist destination as a master-planned Agro-Tourism Ecozone and Agro-Tourism Capital of the Philippines. Mindoro is home to Puerto Galera, another Boracay.

• Preservation of the environment – The Mag-Asawang Tubig Mega Dike Project will function as a multi-purpose project providing a massive irrigation system, power generation (at least 10 MW of hydropower), potable water source (bulk water), increased food production, environmental protection and a boost to eco-tourism as a clean and green province.

Says Joanna of Mindoro’s power crisis: “For as long as our power supply is patay-sindi (on-and-off) and is the most expensive in the entire country, willing and qualified investors will hesitate to bring their businesses to our province. We must solve this problem without delay.”  Joanna blames the Dolor family for the province’s power woes.

“This has to be exposed and corrected,” Valencia says without hesitation. “The development of Oriental Mindoro demands it.”

Hopefully, Mindoreños will see the light at the end of the tunnel.

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