Duterte touts opportunities in Visayas, Mindanao before ASEAN business crowd

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said he is opening up Visayas and Mindanao by speeding up infrastructure development before the 13th ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Vientiane, Laos. 

“We intend to open up our other major islands like Mindanao and Visayas with high quality backbone infrastructure. We will accelerate infrastructure spending by improving national roads and bridges such as the Mindanao Logistics Infrastructure Network and other network master plans including the inter-island linkages. We hope to further roll-on roll-off facility,” Duterte said in a speech that lasted less than 10 minutes. 

Duterte also said he is committed to promote the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) because he is from Mindanao. 

BIMP-EAGA was founded in his bailiwick Davao City, where he served as mayor for most of the past three decades. Mindanao is part of the growth areas of the subregional cooperative. 

Duterte has pushed for federalism as the key to hasten development in the Visayas and Mindanao. 

In his speech, Duterte also placed importance in promoting micro, small, medium enterprises (MSMEs) and addressing transnational crime especially illegal drug trade and terrorism. 

"We shall not be cowed. We must press on," Duterte said. —JST, GMA News