GOVERNANCE/POLITICS

COTABATO CITY  – All the cities in the Soccsksargen region landed in the top 10 most competitive cities in Mindanao over-all in 2018, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) today said.

Based on DTI’s 2018 Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index, Davao City was at first place followed by Cagayan de Oro City and Tagum in third place. 

At 4^th place is Cotabato City followed by Kidapawan City and Tacurong City at 6^th spot.

KORONADAL CITY  -- Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Director General Secretary Isidro S. Lapeña has assured former communist rebels that their decision to return to the fold of the law was wise and right because TESDA has programs for them.

NORTH COTABATO --- Congresswoman Nancy Catamco has turned over to beneficiaries nine school buildings she built using congressional allocations for this province where she is now governor.

In a statement Tuesday, governor-elect Catamco said she also inaugurated, in a series of engagements the past four days, a 1.5 kilometer farm-to-market road, a water supply facility and a barangay hall in  Mehao, Kidapawan City.

Kidapawan City, which has more than 40 barangays, is the provincial capital of North Cotabato covering 17 towns scattered in three congressional districts.  

LANAO DEL SUR --- President Rodrigo Duterte’s participation in an Independence Day rite in Malabang town Wednesday gave Lanao del Sur’s investment climate a boost, members of the business sector said.

“While we don’t know what his primary purpose was in visiting Malabang last Wednesday, we are happy because it was significant in terms of showing to outsiders that it is safe now to put up businesses in the coastal towns of Lanao del Sur,” Bai Sandra Siang, owner of a hardware store in Cotabato City, said Saturday.

COTABATO CITY — Chief Minister Hadji Murad Ibrahim will meet elected officials of provinces and towns comprising the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on a weekend training and orientation here, hosted by the region’s Ministry of the Interior and Local Governments (MILG).

“Today (Saturday) is a big event for us in the ministry (MILG). We will commence this afternoon the first ever simultaneous training cum orientation of all elected governors and mayors of the BARMM,” MILG Minister Naguib Sinarimbo said.

Duterte attends Malabang Independence Day rite

LANAO DEL SUR --- Meranaos were elated with the visit of President Rodrigo Duterte to Malabang Wednesday to grace a simple Independence Day celebration in the seaside town.

It was the second presidential engagement in the second district of Lanao del Sur since the creation of the province 60 years ago.

KIDAPAWAN CITY --- The Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission has cleared Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol from suspicions of pocketing state funds.

“A humbling moment,” Piñol, said in a text message Thursday, referring to a June 11 PACC press communiqué stating he is cleared from allegations of mishandling money earmarked for high-ticket government programs.

The statement was signed by PACC Chairman Dante Jimenez, copies received by media outfits in central Mindanao early Thursday.

KABACAN, North Cotabato – Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol today earned his doctorate in rural development during the commencement exercises of the University of Southern Mindanao (USM) in Kabacan, North Cotabato.

“This is the big event of my life,” Piñol said as he prepared to march at the USM grounds early Saturday morning.

KIDAPAWAN CITY  – Believing the youth as the country’s future, North Cotabato Governor-elect and incumbent Rep. Nancy Catamco today said she will push for voter's education, especially among high school students to break the culture of vote buying during elections.

Rep. Catamco, elected as the next North Cotabato governor, said in a statement that educating high school students on the importance of voting was essential as they would eventually be joining the country's voting population.

NORTH COTABATO --- Central Mindanao’s business sector is anticipating improvements in regional economy if the provincial airport, idle since its construction a decade ago, gets opened soon.

The airport in Mlang town in North Cotabato, designed for large passenger and cargo planes, has never been functional due to alleged controversies  partly triggered by the political hostility between its proponent, the now Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, predecessor then of now out-going third-termer Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza.