REPRESENTATIVE Maximo B. Rodriguez, Jr., chair of the House committee on Mindanao affairs, said in a press briefing on Wednesday, March 21, that his committee will ask various government departments to expand by 20% Mindanao’s share in the national budget in 2019, and continue with increases until President Rodrigo R. Duterte steps down in 2022. Mr. Rodriguez, who represents Cagayan de Oro City (CDO) in Mindanao, said they will make the pitch through a series of technical working group meetings in April while the House of Representatives is on break. “It is our appeal to all our departments that Mindanao should receive its fair and equitable share of the national budget,” Mr. Rodriguez said. Citing a study by the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department, Mr. Rodriguez noted that Mindanao only has a 16.2% or P608-billion allocation in the 2018 budget while its average share was only 12.8% in the last four years despite its poverty incidence rate of 40% and population of 26 million, comprising a quarter of the country’s total populace. — Minde Nyl R. dela Cruz

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