Bush approves $3.7 M for Jolo airport, water

JOLO, Sulu – US President George W. Bush has approved a request of President Arroyo for a total of $3.7 million in assistance to modernize the airport and water supply on this island, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney announced here yesterday.

Mrs. Arroyo asked for the aid during a chat with Bush on the sidelines of the annual leaders’ summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum earlier this month in Australia, Kenney told The STAR.

Kenney and British Ambassador Peter Beckingham were here yesterday to inaugurate several development projects financed or constructed through aid provided by their governments.

The $3.7 million is on top of the $190 million pledged last Sept. 19 by the US government to develop infrastructure and expand economic opportunities in Mindanao over the next five years.

Sulu has long been a hotbed of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf and a renegade faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Together with Basilan, the area is considered one of the fronts in the Bush administration’s war on terror.

Since 2002, the US government has poured various forms of development and civil-military assistance into the two provinces and, to a lesser extent, Tawi-Tawi with the aim of eliminating conditions that breed terrorism. Most of the projects are undertaken through the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Under the USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) program, an earthen causeway was paved with concrete and has become a popular promenade area for Jolo residents. Kenney and Beckingham, together with USAID mission director Jon Lindborg, formally inaugurated yesterday the Jolo Market Road, which makes it easier to transport goods between the Jolo port and barter trade market and the Serantes market complex.

From there they were accompanied to the provincial capitol by Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan for the turnover of aquaculture production materials to former MNLF combatants who are now engaged in lobster and abalone farming.

Since 1997, the USAID has assisted more than 28,000 MNLF returnees throughout Mindanao in developing livelihood opportunities. Of the 28,000 former combatants, 3,400 are in Sulu.

The two envoys also graced a ceremony to mark their governments’ contributions to the remote Sulu village of Siasi: a British-funded water supply system and USAID-supported solar-powered electricity.

Later, the two ambassadors visited the Sulu National High School to check on computers, a printer and reference materials donated by their governments. Internet access is provided by satellite.

Tan thanked the foreigners, telling them, “Socio-economic development is our principal weapon against terrorism.”

The governor wants to change perceptions that his province is the most dangerous place in the Philippines.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., who arrived here together with the foreign guests, said fugitive Bali bombers Dulmatin and Umar Patek are still in Sulu. The remaining commanders of the Abu Sayyaf, who are allied with the Bali bombers belonging to Jemaah Islamiyah, are also being pursued by government forces in Sulu.

Kenney and other US diplomats are frequent visitors in Sulu, Basilan and other parts of Mindanao to support Manila in strengthening the foundations of peace.

For his part, Beckingham told Sulu residents yesterday, “We in the British embassy care about the Philippines and Mindanao in particular.”

US urged to fund energy projects

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri urged the US government yesterday to channel part of the $190-million fund allocated for the peace process to renewable energy projects in Basilan and Sulu in anticipation of power shortages in 2009.

Zubiri, in a letter to US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, said prioritizing renewable energy projects in Basilan and Sulu will not only give the two provinces new opportunities but will also help curb terrorism.

“We don’t want Basilan and Sulu to be left behind again by rapid progress in the rest of Mindanao as in the past. We need not commit that mistake again where underdevelopment and poverty bred rebels and now terrorists of al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and Jemaah Islamiyah,” Zubiri explained.

“A lot of ambitious agricultural and industrial development plans may not be realized if we don’t act now to provide stable energy especially in the most strife-torn area,” he added.  

Zubiri explained that crops, fisheries and marine products from Basilan and Sulu “have an edge as they are harvested from clean environments that can be maintained with non-polluting renewable energy.”

Zubiri is in favor of letting “Americans build them (renewable energy projects) as they are way ahead in wind and solar energy technology. This also gives way for immediate transfer of their know-how directly to Filipino counterparts.”

Mindanao’s demand for energy is expected to outgrow supply as they currently produce most of the top ten Philippine agricultural exports that saw big growth this year. Among them are tuna exports which grew by 42 percent, dessicated coconut by 15 percent, copra by 44 percent, seaweed and carageenan by 68 percent.

Processing of corn, cassava, coffee, rubber, native bananas and abaca traditionally exported as raw materials will require stable supply of electricity and fuel, Zubiri added.

He said wind and solar power projects that are stand-alone are viable and “the best choice especially in remote areas as they don’t require costly transmission lines for connection to power plants in the mainland.”

Basilan and Sulu have great potential energy from ocean thermal currents in Omosmarata, Basilan and ocean tidal waves in the Basilan Strait.

The whole Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has potential generation of 0.36 MW from micro-hydro, 84.87 MW from coconut residue and 4.77 MW from rice residue.

“The fact that this is greater than the $150-million package for Palestinians announced by President Bush is a sign that high-impact results are being anticipated by the American people.”

The Mindanao aid package is included in the $522.4-million new Strategic Framework for US Foreign Assistance announced by the US Department of State in its fiscal year 2008 Congressional Budget Justification request on Sept. 20.

The $190-million grant will be implemented over five years by the US Agency for International Development and the Mindanao Economic Development Council. Bulk of the fund will be allocated for the ARMM composed of Basilan, Sulu, Maguindanao, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur and Shariff Kabunsuan.

The budget will increase access to basic education and provide livelihood skills for the youth in areas of Mindanao most affected by poverty and conflict. – With Christina Mendez