MANILA, Philippines – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) considers the long-running conflict in Mindanao a hindrance to sustaining the Philippines’ strong economic growth as it creates a “pocket of fragility” in an otherwise resilient economy.
In new report titled “Mapping Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations (FCAS) in Asia and the Pacific,” the Manila-based multilateral development institution assessed the performances of 12 developing member countries affected by fragility and conflict. These are Afghanistan, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. The Philippines was included in the report as a special case because of the conflict in Mindanao.
“The Philippines is not considered a fragile country but is affected by a subnational conflict situation in Mindanao,” said the ADB in the report.
FCAS countries are generally characterized by political instability, weak governance and institutional capacity, economic and social insecurity and greater vulnerability to the effects of climate change.
“In some FCAS countries, investments by governments and development partners in transportation, energy, education, health, private sector development, and other areas may have reaped some benefits, much more must be done to ensure sustainability,” ADB said.
The bank said the lack of strong policies in such countries or fragile pockets of such countries weakens their capacity to absorb the resources of development partners.
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In the case of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), ADB noted it has the lowest human development indicators of all the regions in the Philippines. Because of conflict and displacement of population, residents have difficulty accessing basic services, including health, education and employment.
It noted despite the country’s strong economic growth, ARMM continues to suffer from poverty, contributing only 1.3 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014, a far cry from the share of the National Capital Region (36.3 percent), CALABARZON (Southern Luzon) at 17.2 percent and Central Luzon at 9.3 percent.
During the presentation of the third-quarter economic growth figures on Wednesday, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) also identified the conflict in the south among the “possible downside risks to the economy.”
“While peace talks between the government and various rebel groups are ongoing, there is a need to consolidate efforts that will pave the way for lasting peace and development in the countryside,” NEDA deputy director general Rosemarie Edillon said.
As a way of moving forward, ADB emphasized the need to use of “conflict- sensitive approach and the integration of capacity development plans” in development activities in Mindanao.
These include the construction of improvement of national roads, strengthening of institutions for investments, and improvement of environmental management, among others.
The current administration is keen on decentralizing development in the country by opening up new growth areas outside Metro Manila within the medium term.
“The way to bring the growth trajectory up even further, we need to find new sources of growth outside NCR (National Capital Region). Investments are happening in select cities mostly in the NCR,”Edillon said.
She said increasing public investments in the regions would attract private investments.
“We’re hoping public investments would crowd in private investments,” she said.
The agriculture sector, in particular, is envisioned to become a major engine of growth in the provinces.
The Philippine economy grew 7.1 percent in the third quarter of the year, the fastest in Asia during the period.
