MANILA, Philippines - The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has come up with a new medium-term economic blueprint for the country, targeting an upper-middle class economy status with a per capita income of $5,000 by 2022.

The Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022 is the first six-year plan to be anchored on a national long-term vision – the Ambisyon Natin 2040. It also takes off from the Duterte administration’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda.

The new PDP contains seven main parts, which include an overview of the economy, development challenges that lie ahead, and development strategies.

As identified in the 2017-2022 PDP, the Philippine economy is expected to grow seven to eight percent in the medium term to a more inclusive pace.

Poverty rate is targeted to decline from the present rate of 21.6 percent to 14 percent in 2022, while poverty incidence in rural areas is expected to decrease from 30 percent in 2015 to 20 percent in 2022.

Under the new economic blueprint, the government targets to reduce unemployment rate from the current 5.5 percent to between three to five percent by 2022.

Included among the targets are various socioeconomic goals such as attaining higher trust in government and society, having more resilient individuals and communities, and a greater drive for innovation among businesses.

“We want the Philippines to be an upper-middle income country by 2022. With the right policies and with mutual trust between government and the citizenry, this is very possible,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, who is also director general of NEDA.

The new development plan in supported by three main pillars: Malasakit which aims to regain people’s trust in public institutions. Strategies under this pillar include promoting awareness of anti-corruption measures, improving the productivity of the public sector, implementing regulatory reforms, increasing access to legal aid, pursuing corrections reform, and promoting culture-sensitive governance and development.

The second pillar is Pagbabago, which aims to reduce inequality by increasing income opportunities.

Pernia said under this pillar, the government would be placing emphasis on creating more opportunities in the value chain of the agriculture sector.

“Opportunities in agriculture will be expanded. We will increase our presence in the global market, and we will streamline bureaucratic processes for both local and foreign businesses,” said NEDA deputy director general Rosemarie Edillon.

Also under this pillar, the government will pursue strategies such as achieving quality and accessible basic education for all, enhancing disaster risk reduction and management mechanisms and adopting universal social protection.

The third pillar, Patuloy na Pag-unlad concentrates on sustaining economic growth by maximixing the demographic dividend and advancing science, technology and innovation.

“Strategies under this pillar will ensure maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability, and observing fiscal prudence while the tax system is being reformed into a much simpler, fair and equitable one,” said NEDA, “A strategic trade policy will also be implemented alongside measures to promote competition and establish a level playing field.”

KNOWN as the “Land of Promise,” Mindanao is characterized by long coastlines and mountains that are filled with unique flora and fauna. A third of its land is devoted to agriculture and supplies 40 percent of food to the entire Philippines. Its land area is three times the size of Taiwan, 88 times bigger than Hong Kong, and 136 times larger than Singapore.

For a long time, it seemed that Mindanao was perceived as the backdoor to the Philippines. A closer look at the world map would show that Mindanao has a great opportunity to be the country’s frontdoor to Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and even Australia and New Zealand.

Mindanao is part of the East ASEAN Growth Area, a sub-regional cooperation initiative bringing together the neighboring areas of the ASEAN countries of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines in the BIMP-EAGA, which was formally launched in 1994 in Davao City. The sub-regional cooperation initiative aims to utilize the strategic proximity of the cities and enhance key target areas such as agro-industries, trade and tourism. Aside from the benefits to be from cooperation, cities like Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, and Davao are experiencing significant economic growth, and are visibly becoming a destination of business investment and local tourism because of their emergence as the commercial and business centers of the south.

The Muslim provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-tawi also have great potential being in the center of trade for East Asia. But they would need more infrastructure development, especially in education, health and road infrastructure. Improvement in societal stability should also be addressed to attract more investors.

Prioritizing development projects in Mindanao

Under the Duterte administration, the allocated budget for both the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the Mindanao Development Authority increased significantly. Infrastructure projects are also already in the pipeline like the Mindanao Railway System that will total 2,000 kilometers in length. The proposed railway system will interconnect Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, General Santos, Surigao and Iligan. Other infrastructure projects in Mindanao will include upgrading and modernization of airports and seaports, as well as road networks that will improve access to tourism destinations and farm-to-market.

Last January 13, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited President Rodrigo Duterte in Davao and pledged a trillion yen for infrastructure projects. The visit is seen to usher in more foreign investments, especially in Mindanao.

Zamboanga City

Just recently, Palafox Associates and Palafox Architecture had the opportunity to help Zamboanga City in the preparation of its Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Zoning Ordinance.It consists of plans for transportation, tourism, disaster preparedness, and security by design, among others. The plan also advocates an “agropolitan” development for the City of Zamboanga, integrating agriculture and aquaculture production with the necessary urban amenities that will spur growth for the city.

In addition, the Philippines, through the City of Zamboanga can play a crucial role in strengthening trade links with BIMP-EAGA, the Muslim countries in Asia and the Middle East. Along with the cities of General Santos, Cotabato and Davao, Zamboanga is identified to be among the selected urban centers in Mindanao for the BIMP-EAGA region. The Zamboanga Peninsula plays a critical role in realizing the medium and long-term goals of Mindanao and BIMP-EAGA which is to become a major location in ASEAN for high value-added agro-industry, natural resource-based manufacturing and high-end tourism that will eventually shift towards ensuring socio-economic, physical development, and a southern gateway to and from the Philippines.

Learning from Metro Manila

Indeed, Mindanao has a great opportunity for development, given the support from the Duterte administration. It would be important to prepare the island for the influx of investments through proper planning and development guidelines, so as not to repeat the mistakes of Metro Manila. At present, Davao City is already experiencing traffic congestion and is feeling the pressure to make necessary improvements to its mobility and transportation given the attention it is gaining from investors.

Comprehensive and collaborative planning is urgently needed as it is estimated that with the rapidly growing population and urbanization, there will be 35 million more Filipinos by 2050. Seventy to eighty percent of them will migrate to the cities. I estimate that with 150 million total population by 2050, the Philippines will need 100 more new cities. Moving forward, planning should not only be short-term and opportunistic, but also long-term and visionary.

I believe that the next six years give our country an opportunity for genuine reform and change. Mindanao is taking a major step in the right direction by prioritizing projects that will improve connectivity, convergence, context, corridors, and networks. Instead of putting up walls, the Philippines is building more bridges. Improving peace and order as well as promoting unity in diversity would also be crucial for growth to be inclusive. With this, bringing the Philippines well into the 21st century – a globally competitive country – will soon be in the horizon.

Many believe that this presidential election is unprecedented in how it has divided us Filipinos, and in how it has brought out the strongest emotions we have seen in an electoral campaign. Perhaps these emotions have simply been more manifest because the wide accessibility of internet-based social media has made it much easier for personal sentiments to be widely disseminated. In any case, with the ballots cast and as we await what everyone hopes to be a credible and definitive outcome, I am led to ponder on the kind of leadership that our flawed and fractured nation needs at this time.