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"In the past few months, your government exerted all efforts to ensure that we will have a sufficient supply of rice in the foreseeable future and we have to be thankful to the two Mindoro provinces for their very notable contribution in food security," stresses the President.
More than 300 local government and sectoral leaders of the island provinces of Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan convened in the city of Calapan last October 15-16, 2008 and crafted the Action Agenda for Peace, Security and Development of the region. The religious sector was led by Bishop Warlito Cajandig of the diocese of Calapan, together with other church leaders.
Gov. Arnan C. Panaligan welcomed President Arroyo to the assembly that was held at the Filipiniana Resort Hotel in this capital city. Occidental Mindoro Governor Josephine Ramirez Sato and Marinduque Governor Jose Antonio Carrion also attended the assembly, together with Representatives Rodolfo G. Valencia and Alfonso Umali, Jr. of the 1st and 2nd districts, respectively, of the province. The lone representative of Occidental Mindoro, Amelita Villarosa was likewise present in the affair.
The action agenda that was presented to President Arroyo emphasizes that the effective and enduring interventions towards peace and development are those that are genuinely reflective of the actual needs and aspirations of the community and those that will provide economic benefits to the people.
President Arroyo, in turn, assured the assembly participants that a number of the recommendations in the action agenda can be immediately adopted. In particular, the President immediately committed the repair and rehabilitation of various irrigation facilities in Mindoro Island.
Meanwhile, Oriental Mindoro Governor Arnan C. Panaligan thanked the president for the multi-million peso projects that her administration had implemented in the province. The governor thanked the president for the construction of 19 new bridges along the Strong Republic Nautical Highway traversing several municipalities worth P350 million and for the rehabilitation of Baco-Bucayao River Irrigation System amounting to P76 million. This major irrigation system will irrigate 6,000 hectares of prime agricultural lands in the first district of the province, notably in Calapan City and the town of Naujan, two major rice producing areas of the province. The rehabilitation of this irrigation system will boost the province's role as a major rice producer in the country.
Vice-President Noli De Castro, who hails from Pola, Oriental Mindoro, also attanded the assembly. After the program, the President and the First Gentleman, was joined by Governor Panaligan and the other dignitaries for lunch. The President also held a dialogue with the indigenous peoples of Mindoro, the Mangyans, where she directed the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples to fast track the issuance of the Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles to the Mangyans over their ancestral lands.
The President also approved the request of the Mangyan leaders for the continuation of farm-to-market roads in Mangyan areas in Bulalacao, Bansud, Gloria and Pola.
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