The Manny Initiative

November 25, 2019 Sideglance

This is not about Senator and Pambansang Kamao Emmanuel Pacquiao but of another equally brilliant, visionary, unassuming, dedicated and the model for a public servant Manny from the South.

The guy is former Agriculture Secretary and now incumbent chairperson of the Mindanao Development Authority (MDA) Manny Piñol, a journalist, writer, agriculturist and politician. His appoint as head of the MDA is actually a big loss for the Department of Agriculture (DA) and we can only hope that his successor will be able to duplicate if not surpass his exemplary performance during his stint in that agency of government.

Right now MDA chairperson Manny is in the thick of planning and preparation on how to maximize the golden opportunity offered in the wake of the impending transfer of Indonesia’s capital from Jakarta to East Kalemantan near Sabah. As correctly pointed out by the MDA head in his post in the social media “moving the Indonesian Central Government from sinking Jakarta to the beautiful island of Borneo, in the province of East Kalementan specifically, would virtually create a new market for food and agricultural producers in Borneo, Sarawak, Sulawesi and Mindanao, along with its island provinces in the Bangasamoro Autonomous Region.

This is something Mindanao agricultural and fisheries producers should prepare for.” There you go. Right there is where this other Manny from the South bares his brilliance in prognosticating the golden economic opportunity practically at the doorstep of Mindanao and just waiting to be explored and exploited by our countrymen in that part of the country.

If the plan for this once in a lifetime opportunity goes right then we can be sure that in the near future Mindanao will have one of the strongest economies in the country. It must be remembered that centuries ago Mindanao was far better off than other regions in the country mainly because of its effective barter and trade with other nations.

Mindanao only became stagnant economically due to negligence and inattention by the national government. But now that Mindanao has Manny Piñol leading the charge in revitalizing its economy we can only expect superlative initiatives and ideas from this former governor of Cotabato who in his own way has shown the Filipino people not only what Carpe Diem (seize the day) really means but also how to come up with economic strategies that will provide food on the table for years to come.

This early the MDA chairperson is already exhorting his fellow Mindanaoans to do the following: “So this early, we will have to prepare for this major economic opportunity for our farmers and fishermen in Mindanao. In Sulu, the plan is to establish poultry farms as the island province produces corn and cassava which are important components in feed making.

The fruits of Sulu, especially Durian and Mangosteen, could find a nearer market in Kota Kinabalu and soon East Kalemantan than Metro Manila. The plan to establish a goat breeding project in several Mindanao Provinces, including the island provinces of Basilan and Tawitawi, to produce Halal Goat Meat will have to be implemented immediately.