MANILA – The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) on Friday laid out the full slate of programs under its “Building a Better Mindanao” (BBM) roadmap, a 2025-2028 initiative designed to sustain peace-driven growth. During a briefing in Makati City, MinDA Chairperson, Secretary Leo Tereso Magno, said Mindanao’s decades-long struggle with conflict has given way to a period of stability, allowing the government to shift its focus toward accelerating prosperity. He said correcting outdated perceptions about Mindanao is essential in sustaining its gains. “Sa pinagdaanan ng Mindanao na ilang dekada ng pag-aaway at kaguluhan, finally meron tayong kapayapaan. Alam natin na dapat kasunod ng kapayapaan ay kaunlaran (After several decades of conflict, we finally have peace. We know peace must be followed by development),” Magno said. “Alam rin namin na in order for development to kick in, we should also correct the narrative about Mindanao (We also know that for development to truly take hold, we need to correct the narrative about Mindanao).” He noted that the region is now “at the time of thriving,” with communities hoping that ongoing development initiatives will take deeper root. “Hoping that development comes in para naman ’yung mga tao sa Mindanao ngayong mapayapa na ang kanilang pamumuhay, sana ma-sustain (so that people in Mindanao, now living peacefully, can sustain it),” he said. The agency highlighted strong indicators of Mindanao’s progress, among them the island’s shift from rotating brownouts and power deficits a decade ago to becoming an energy exporter supplying 400 megawatts daily to the Visayas grid and about 200 megawatts to the Luzon grid. A presentation to the media also cited the above-average regional economic growth in Northern Mindanao, Davao Region, and Caraga, and Mindanao’s continuing role as the country’s food basket, with 36 percent of national farmland and 42 percent of food trade originating from the island. Magno said these gains underscore the need for an integrated development framework, which MinDA is pursuing through the BBM Program anchored on the President’s 10-Point Agenda. The roadmap consolidates national and regional priorities and reflects the aspirations and long-term potential of more than 26 million Mindanawons. Under the implementation design presented by MinDA, the BBM Program will operate through two tracks. The first covers multi-agency enrolled targets for Mindanao, consisting of flagship projects aligned with national mandates but tailored to the island’s development priorities. MinDA will coordinate with national government agencies to identify and prioritize projects that are shovel-ready or implementable within the administration’s term. The second track involves MinDA-implemented flagship programs, including the Mindanao Disaster Resiliency Resource Center, Tubig Para sa Lahat water supply initiative, the Mindanao Development Corridors (MinDC) Program, the MindaNOW watershed management program, the Empower community enterprise initiative, the Accelerating Investments in Mindanao (AIM) investor-assistance hub, the Sustainable Energy Transition (SET) program, and the Venture Into a Sustainable and Inclusive Tourism (VISIT) program. Tubig Para sa Lahat focuses on reducing the number of waterless municipalities by supporting the establishment of water systems in 77 target localities and providing technical assistance in strengthening long-term water governance. MindaNOW seeks to safeguard water resources from ridge to reef through improved river basin management and climate-resilient planning. SET is geared toward supporting Mindanao’s navigation of the global shift to cleaner and more efficient energy systems. The VISIT program aims to establish Mindanao’s first inclusive and sustainable tourism loop by promoting destinations anchored on indigenous culture, eco-tourism, coastal attractions, and agri-tourism. Meanwhile, MinDC concentrates on strengthening inter-modal transport, logistics, ICT, and infrastructure connectivity across Mindanao’s development corridors. Empower supports job creation and local enterprise growth, while AIM serves as the island’s first wide-scale investor-assistance network to streamline linkages between LGUs, national agencies, and private sector investors. Magno said these projects represent a cohesive effort to translate peace into lasting development, noting that the BBM Program is intended not only to accelerate economic gains but to ensure that Mindanao’s resurgence is inclusive, resilient, and sustained.
