NEWS FEATURE: Davao Oriental: Taking a journey to progress

MATI CITY, Davao Oriental, June 29 (PIA)--- The provincial government of Davao Oriental  has made significant strides in addressing economic, health, agriculture, and peace problems for the last eight years.

           Data obtained from the office of the Provincial Governor revealed that for the last eight years since 2007, the administration of Gov. Corazon Malanyaon made a dent of “modest” successes in addressing poverty, malnutrition, dismal condition of health services,  sluggish revenue collection and low agriculture productivity.

            It   has also made relatively significant accomplishments in strengthening disaster risk reduction and management  and in achieving peace as well as in restoring the ruins of super typhoon Pablo that hit the east coast towns of Davao Oriental in December 2012.

            With  the Provincial Development Physical Framework Plan as its blueprint in its pursuit of a “much progressive and dynamic Davao Oriental”, the provincial government under the direction of Malanyaon, pulled the largest drop in poverty incidence from 42.7 percent in 2007 to 37.8 percent in 2012.

            Data from the  National Statistics and Coordination Board (NSCB)  cited such decrease of 6.5 percentage points as the highest reduction in poverty incidence in the entire Davao Region .

            It achieved the lowest drop in malnutrition prevalence rate from the highest level of 17 percent in 2007 to only 4 percent in 2011—the lowest in the entire Davao Region.

            Efforts in curbing the malnutrition incidence earned the provincial government the Pag-asa Award from the National Nutrition Council (NNC) XI in 2009 and in 2010 but in 2011, it received the Golden Agila Award for improving its performance in nutrition for three consecutive years.

            Having further sustained its performance in checking malnutrition, the provincial government still garnered  Pag-asa awards in 2012 and in 2013.

            Meanwhile, Malanyaon then had wanted to turn the previously dilapidated, filthy and congested Davao Oriental Provincial Hospital into a health facility of much improved services to cater the poor.

            She made her vision a reality by constructing in 2008 the Out-Patient Department while simultaneously renovating the old hospital building.

            Two hospital wings were also constructed in 2009 out of provincial government resources, transforming the 100-bed capacity old hospital into a 200-bed capacity Davao Oriental Provincial Medical Center.

            In a separate interview,  Gov. Malanyaon revealed that another wing will house the semi-private and private rooms and that a portion of which will soon be made ready for occupancy.

            She said that  the  provincial government has continued upgrading and expanding the medical center facilities to soon include a dialysis center,  blood bank,  multi-diagnostic center, doctors’ clinic.

            On the other hand,  the provincial government used to collect a measly P20 million revenue  in 2007 and in years prior to 2007 but in 2014, it registered the highest revenue collection rating of 126.9 percent and collected P200 million last year.

            “We made it though we failed to collect real property taxes from typhoon-hit areas,” she said.

            Malanyaon revealed that hefty revenue collection in 2014 substantially came from economic enterprises and environment fees and charges.

            Investing in Davao Oriental has been made more easy as the provincial government has established policies and mechanisms to improve  the business environment.

           It has set up the Center for Promotion of Investments and Trade (CPOINT) to promote investment and trade as well as assist existing and would-be investors.  (Part II includes achievement on agriculture, on disaster risk management and on PABLO rehab) (PIA XI/ Jeanevive Duron-Abangan)