"MARINDUQUE: BANGON BAYA ! SULONG NGANI"

From time immemorial, we - Marinduqueños (Filipinos) have been craving or envisioning for various developments either in our rural or urban areas.

Time and again and again and again, our vision is having a very slow pace which can be attributed to some major factors namely: political, social, religious (etc) in nature, that in a way or the other hinder or obstruct the noble objectives towards achieving such development/s.

The fact of the matter is that our country's economy seems just fair, but not so well in other aspects and the future growth can be affected by numerous factors other than those afore-mentioned such as the increasing population that needs to be supplied with food and other food products and an expanding non-agricultural economy.

Subsequently, with increasing incomes, our domestic market is becoming more sophisticated and price and quality conscious. However, how much of this demand can be successfully captured by local suppliers is a key challenge and the economy grows little as a reverberating effect of the present devastating global economic downturn.

It's true that our economy has only been able to capture a small and declining share in the market, and the natural advantages we have together is the literacy and technical entrepreneurial skills - that have been partially harnessed in pushing the economic growth, although little in agriculture as induced by the peace and order situation that greatly favours investment and output.

Our agricultural sector's output that includes animal production and manufacture of value-added-meat products, will continue to play a strategic role in the economy and rural growth should it not be fully affected by the slow rate of output due to the impact of the present global economic crisis.

Although, our country's economy has grown some percent in the previous years, this as well can be considered as an encouraging trend which has been partly attributed to our positive outlook on structural reforms that integrates the significant sectors of our economy. It also enhances competition in the private sector and began transforming its production base from reliance on commodities to value-added goods such as various food products and prime commodities.

Amidst some vital concerns, our government (local or national) should support investments in agriculture. And in supporting a more conducive investment climate in agriculture, the priorities or fields identified are as follows:

1) To increase the stock of rural agriculture;
2) To enhance productivity and production;
3) To expedite any completion of agrarian or land reform; and
4) To implement governance reforms to reducing agricultural policies, prices and market distortions.

And the above-mentioned can be achieved by the following measures:

1) To improve rural infra-structure;
2) To improve land and labor productivity;
3) TO IMPROVE AGRI-BUSINESS; and
4) To encourage land reform by removing distortions and uncertainties in asset valuation, property
rights and efficient land markets.

Of course, when it comes to rural development, the support to environmental and natural resources management should be as well be made a top priority.

An inadequate regard for the implementation of a sound environment and natural resource measures and for safeguarding the economy from excessive environmental costs surely erodes resource inventories and can seriously compromise a short-term economic growth by larger, longer term-costs.

Meaning, the environmental and natural resources management should aim to:

1) Establish a sound and efficient institutional basis for the environment management
based on watershed and ecosystem approach to improve delivery of service, rationalize
expenditures and priority functions;
2) To effectively devolve local responsibility; and
3) To streamline the policy and framework of the agency involved to improve further efficiency.

It is also vital to give support to the public sector management for growth through the availability of public resource to finance public expenditures in the medium term that are affected by critical contraints including: weak fiscal climate; poor efficiency and poor linkages among public sector policy, planning and budgeting.

To address these issues, thrusts for expenditures rationalization should include: rationailizing expenditures in scope and function; prioritizing expenditures in high-impact areas; reversing the decline in public investment; prioritizing capital expenditures in infra-structure and agribusiness; rationalizing government spending for devolved services; strengthening planning and budgeting in rural development and; implementing critical governance to reduce policy and price distortions.

Finally, basic rural sustainable development in Marinduque can be achieved by generating enough equity growth in all aspects particularly in agribusiness and food processing sectors of our provincial economy.

The issue of alleviating poverty while enhancing economic growth by improving land tenure and fostering developments in agri-business sector of our province will finally be minimized if not totally overcome.

TONY R. MONTERAS (malaking ibon)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
03 March 2009 / 06 Rabi'I 1430 H