Three Mindanao regions beat country’s GDP in 2017

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Three Mindanao regions outperformed the annual national economic growth rate in 2017, based on figures released by government statisticians in different cities here Thursday, April 26. 

Leading the pack is Davao Region with 10.9% of gross regional domestic product (GRDP) year-on-year, followed by Region 12 (Soccsksargen) at 8.2%, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at 7.3%.

SERVICES SECTOR BOOSTS DAVAO. Mindanao’s biggest regional economy, Region 11 (Davao Region), owed its 10.9% growth to the services sector.

 Rosendo Aya-ay, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) XI chief statistical specialist, said the services sector remained to be the biggest in the region, and in many regions across the country as well.

 In 2017, services in the region accounted for 49.6% of the ouput, followed by industries at 39.2%, and agriculture at 11.2%.

Davao region consists of the provinces of Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte, Davao Occidental, Davao del Sur, and its capital, Davao City.

Thursday’s GRDP data for the region is 0.6% away from the 11.5% growth Davao wants by 2022, based on the Davao Regional Development Plan 2017-2022. 

In the same plan, the region envisions to tap the services and industries sectors as its primary growth driver.

AGRICULTURE BOOSTS SOCCSKSARGEN. Meanwhile, Region 12 expanded by 8.2% from 4.9% year-on-year, thanks to the recovery of the agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing sector.

But similar to Davao, services was also the region’s biggest block in its annual output at 40.2%, followed by industry at 36.8%. Although recovering in the same year, agriculture was the smallest sector at 23%.

The region was able to sustain the growth because of the increase of the services subsectors.

Also known as Soccsksargen, the province is comprised of the provinces of Cotabato, Sarangani, South Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat.

‘SIGNIFICANT LEAP’ DESPITE SIEGE. The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao also saw a vibrant agriculture sector which helped improve the region’s 2017 performance.

It is the biggest producer in the region’s annual output at 56.4%, followed by services at 37.7%, and industries at 5.9%. It is also the only region that is predominantly agricultural, according to Aya-ay.

In a separate news conference in Cotabato City, leaders described the growth as a “singificant leap” – as compare that to 2016 when ARMM was the smallest contributor of the national growth at 0.4%.

“People used to say this kind of growth was impossible in the ARMM but through our collective efforts in the regional government, together with our civil society partners, we made it possible,” Governor Mujiv Hataman said on Thursday.

Hataman said this as he noted the growth happened “despite the siege” in Marawi City, which is also part of the region being located in the province of Lanao del Sur. 

The growth rates of the region took place at a time the National Capital Region’s economy slowed down to 6.1% in 2017.

Last year’s top performing regional economy was the Cordillera Administrative Region at 12.1% year-on-year.

Other Mindanao regions also showed a positive growth: Region 10 at 5.9%, Caraga at 4.3%, and Region 9 at 2.3%. – Rappler.com