Press    Release       Number   19 ,    series  of  2001                                       24    May 2001

               

 PRESS   RELEASE 

 

 P61.8   MILLION    ALLOTED   FOR  MINDANAO  PEACE   PROGRAM 

 

Some  4,000 households including the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) living within  the  Special Zone of Peace and   Development  (SZOPAD)   are  the  intended beneficiaries of  a Project  Mindanaw   Programme  for  Peace and  Development (Mindanaw  Pro-peace).     The   Philippines-Canada Development Fund (PCDF) shall contribute P49.4 million,   while a counterpart fund amounting to P12.4 million will  come from the Philippine Development  Assistance Programme, Inc. (PDAP), a non-profit, non-government organization.      The  PDAP, which is    chaired   by former Agrarian Reform Secretary Ernesto D.  Garilao,    will  manage the Project.

 

The   PCDF is   managed  by  a board  composed of NEDA Deputy Director General Augusto  B. Santos  as the  Chairman, and the  Canadian International Development Assistance (CIDA) Head of Aid Vivien J. Escott, as the Co-Chairperson.   The Board members   are Ronald C. Baird of CIDA,  Ma. Aurora Tolentino  of Ayala Foundation and NEDA  Director for Public Investments  Rolando  Tungpalan.  

 

The   Mindanaw Pro-peace  Project   will mobilize the necessary  capital for livelihood programs and establish rural enterprises  to the 80 cooperatives owned by the people in the targeted areas.       

 

The Project   was signed on May 15, 2001 (Susan  C. Valerio, NEDA-IX).