MANILA -- A final draft of 10 Senate bills pushing for the creation of the Mindanao Economic Development Authority (Meda) will be filed next week, following a Senate sub-committee’s recommendation for a legislation proposing a permanent unifying development body in Mindanao.

In Tuesday’s joint public hearing of the Senate committee on economic affairs and on local government, ways and means, and finance, the sub-committee on Meda decided to merge all similar bills filed by 10 senators since December last year.

Chaired by Senator Angara, the sub-committee on Meda was created under the Senate committee on economic affairs to review and conduct initial deliberation on the Meda bill.

The bill pushes for the creation of a permanent Mindanao body that will integrate and harmonize all peace and development efforts in Mindanao. It is also being pushed in view of the need for Mindanao to catch up to mainstream national development.

“I think our Filipino leaders have seen the potentials of Mindanao a long time ago. Despite efforts to develop the island-region, it has never been done on a continuing and sustained basis,” Angara said.

Given Mindanao’s vast potentials and strategic geographical location, he said he would like to see Mindanao transformed from a backdoor to the country’s front door to greater economic opportunities, particularly in the East Asean region.

“An institution like Meda can help us achieve that vision,” he added.

Compared to Luzon and Visayas, Mindanao has the highest percentage of unpaved national roads at 37.81%, the lowest in irrigation development at 31.5%, and the least in terms of farm-to-market roads paved at 19.68%.

Mindanao continues to lag behind in terms of economic growth, poverty, and human development. Six out of the 10 poorest provinces of the country are in Mindanao, while four of the bottom five provinces ranked lowest in human development are in Mindanao.

Senator Richard Gordon, one of the bill sponsors, also noted the urgent need to pass the bill as Mindanao has been an “unfulfilled promise”.

“Make sure that the authority is established and when this happens, I would like to see Mindanao become a fulfilled promise not tomorrow, but today,” Gordon said.

Key players from Mindanao’s business, local government, religious, academe, and youth sectors also gathered at the public hearing and voiced support to the bill.

“The problem with the current setup is that whenever the administration changes, policies also change. We need permanency in all of the development initiatives for Mindanao,” Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat said.

General provisions of the Meda proposal seek to strengthen the existing Mindanao Economic Development Council (Medco) by converting it into a permanent Meda.

Established in 1992 through EO 512, Medco operates as the only existing Mindanao-wide government mechanism that provides a coordinated and rationalized platform for program implementation and monitoring, investment promotion, and policy advocacy for Mindanao.

“We really need some sort of permanency to advocate business policies in Mindanao. The problem we have is that sometimes decisions are made in the central government which considers the macro-economic benefits of the country to the detriment of the people in Mindanao,” said Vicente Lao, chairman of the Mindanao Business Council.

Fr. Albert Alejo, project director of Konsult Mindanao, also said that Mindanao needs a more focused development body.

“We need an institution that goes beyond religious and ethnic division, an agency which has a vision and mandate more focused than helicopter planning,” Alejo said.

Arsenio Gonzales, co-chair of Regional Development Council 9, also said the enactment of Meda is the “vehicle” towards accelerating the island’s development.

“For the past years, we have been imprisoned by regionalism and it’s about time for a paradigm shift in Mindanao,” he said.

He added that the passage of Meda could “help us look for our place in the Philippines.”

“Ano ba talaga ang papel natin, taga-supply na lang ba tayo ng materyales at pagkain sa Metro Manila, saan ba tayo paroroon? It’s about time we give them an answer,” Gonzales said.

To date, 10 senators have sponsored the bill. These include Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Angara, Manny Villar, Richard Gordon, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Lito Lapid, Jinggoy Ejercito-Estrada, Ramon Revilla, and Loren Legarda.

Senator Mar Roxas also sponsored the bill under a different title, Mindanao Development Administration (Minda) Act of 2009.

Meanwhile, the bill has already been approved at a joint House committee level and is awaiting final committee report in Congress. (Press release)