VOL. 9 ISSUE 3 • TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2016
P 15.00 • 20 PAGES
www.edgedavao.net
EDGEDAVAO Serving a seamless society
WOMEN POWER. Female police officers under the Davao Police Office (DCPO) flash the clenched fist sign, which symbolizes solidarity and support, in yesterday’s flag hoisting ceremony at Camp Domingo Leonor compound where the police force of Davao City paid tribute to women law enforcers in time for the 2016 Women’s Month celebration. Lean Daval Jr.
RAILWAYS ON RODY’S RADAR By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.
P
abf@edgedavao.net
RESIDENTIAL candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte is not just into fighting criminality and corruption, he is also setting his radar on the development of a railway system connecting the key regions outside Metro Manila. In a statement, Duterte said the plan could underscore the need to disperse economic activities and eliminate cultural barriers. “We would rather ask other countries like China to help us build train services that will facilitate the movement not only of goods and services, but especially of people,” Duterte said. He said with the diverse
ethnic groups in the country, Filipinos are constrained to interact due to the absence of affordable and accessible transport infrastructure. “How many of you here in Bicol have explored the Moro areas in Mindanao? If only we have trains, making travels would not be that difficult. But look, what happened? Even your railway system connection to Manila is gone,” he told a gathering of supporters in Legaspi City, Albay in a recent visit. The Philippine National Railways (PNR) used to operate its south line up to Bicol region. However, most of the improvements on the rail network were destroyed
during World War II and some sections were not restored. A railway system, Duterte said, will pave the way for an “interconnected and harmonized system to transport people and their goods, their trade and livelihood.” He reiterated his stand that once he gets elected as president, he will make a drastic change to the prevailing system where distribution of public funds is disproportionately biased towards Manila. “Like the Bicolanos, the people in Mindanao suffer the same injustice when it comes to resource allocation. We produce more yet we get less than
what we deserve,” he said. Mindanao comprises 23.43 percent of the Philippines total population and corners 45 percent of the total land area. It is the country’s premier food source and agri-business producer, accounting for more than 60 percent of the country’s total agricultural exports. Of the total volume of mineral reserves, 80.54 percent of gold, 67.86 percent of copper, 42.20 percent f nickel and 42.19 percent of chromite are found in Mindanao. Yet in 2015, Mindanao’s share in the P389.86 Billion national Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) was only 27.37 percent.
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