DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/25 May) – Malacanang has appointed an officer-in-charge of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) in place of Secretary Datu Abul Khayr Alonto who died of heart complications on May 9.
Executive Secretary signed the appointment of lawyer Nathaniel D. Dalumpines, assistant secretary for Mindanao Concerns, on May 20 to ensure “the continuous and effective delivery of public service.”
The appointment was made known to the media on Friday.
Dalumpines, a former chief of staff from 2014 to 2016 of then mayor and now President Rodrigo R. Duterte, will also continue his present duties and functions as assistant secretary.
As the new MinDA head, Dalumpineswill also serve as the Philippine Signing Minister for the Brunei Darussalam Indonesia Malaysia and Philippines East Asian Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), a 25-year old sub-regional economic cooperation initiative in Southeast Asia designed to spur economic development in the lagging sub-economies.
BIMP-EAGA was founded in 1994 in Davao. Its focus areas include the entire sultanate of Brunei Darussalam; the provinces of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, West Papua and Papua in Indonesia; the states of Sabah and Sarawak and the federal territory of Labuan in Malaysia; and Mindanao and the province of Palawan in the Philippines.
The BIMP-EAGA economic cooperation focuses on four strategic pillars – enhanced connectivity, food basket strategy, tourism Development, and environment.
The enhanced connectivity and food basket strategy pillars aim to facilitate cross-border movement of goods, services, and people by ensuring all the necessary physical infrastructure and software development are in place, to achieve land, sea, and air connectivity within the sub-region.
Tourism pillar prioritizes community-based ecotourism to fully showcase and conserve the natural and cultural resources of the sub-region, while also helping develop the lagging communities of the member countries.
Environment pillar ensures integrated protection and management of the sub-region’s natural resources and biodiversity, by focusing on environment-friendly programs and initiatives. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
