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“Go reach, grow rich”, guv’s primary aims for Davao Oriental
By Ferdinand O. Zuasola


CITY OF MATI, Davao Oriental, Aug. 16 (PNA) – "Go reach, grow rich", this has become the mantra of Governor Corazon Malanyaon every time she visits highly impoverished villages in the province which are now the primary targets of the provincial government's intensified anti-poverty programs.

Drawing lessons from the government's dismal performance to combat poverty especially in the countryside, Gov. Malanyaon says the "doleout" character of most of the government's poverty alleviation programs diminishes whatever headway it gained in its anti-poverty efforts.

This province's change-maker leader draws her strength from her strong sense of mission to make a difference in the lives of her people.

And to see her anti-poverty efforts gaining much headway is a big shot in the arm who strongly believes that the battle against massive abject poverty in the countryside can greatly be won by transforming the heart and mind of her people.

"It's about changing mindsets. That's the be-all thing, I think, if we are to succeed and make a dent in fighting poverty," Malanyaon said after having a long talk with residents of a slum area in Barangay Central in the City of Mati.

"I am deeply glad that we have somehow successfully inculcated a culture of enterprise in a number of villages in the province. And these poor people have now become entrepreneurs.

"As a matter of policy and practice, we shun doleout character in our anti-poverty programs because it will not in any way solve the miserable condition of the poor," the governor adds as she and her team have gathered for a brainstorming session to assess the performance of her Rural Entrepreneurship Advocacy Towards Change (REACH) program that mark its first year in implementation.

The REACH program is entrepreneurship development training and advocacy program intended to propagate and influence a culture of enterprise and wealth in the province, according to Gov. Malanyaon.

She said the program also serves as a complementary program of the existing economic development programs and projects of the provincial government.

These are the Agriculture and Fisheries Development Program; the Agri-Business Development Program: and the Pagkain at Kita Program. All the beneficiaries of these economic development programs which include farmers, fishermen, and micro enterprises are to go through the process of entrepreneurial values and skills trainings, orientation and advocacy.

A brief of the REACH program said "In order for the economic development programs of the provincial government to make a significant dent on the targeted beneficiaries, there is a felt need for parallel initiatives that will influence change in people's mindsets toward taking advantage of and nurturing these opportunities to maximize its benefits.

"The provincial government would want to influence a cultural evolution where people will need to be creative rather than passive, capable of self-initiated action rather than dependent. They will need to know how to learn rather than be taught.

"They will need to be enterprising in their outlook and not think and act like employees or clients. The organization in which they work, the communities in which they live and societies in which they belong will, in turn, also need to possess all these qualities."

"This program is anchored on a theory that there is a significant link between economic performance and cultural values and that a nation that thinks of doing things better is really doing better economically. This would lead us to conclude that a community or an area's level of economic activities is directly proportionate to the degree of enterprising culture that exist in that community," the REACH project brief said.

"Enterprise is about attitudes, the process, the person or persons who do it and the socio-economic environment within which it happens," Malanyaon saying that herself a successful entrepreneur.

"Enterprise is about having a 'can-do' attitude and making it happens. Efforts, therefore, to develop a culture of enterprise should essentially be about changing mindsets," the governor added.

The Pagkain at Kita and Agri-Business Development Programs of the provincial government provides technical and technological assistance to the marginalized lowland, upland and coastal farmers.

Specific livelihood projects under the Pagkain at Kita and Agri-Business Development Programs are: Expansion of rice and white corn production; Barangay goat enterprise development; Cassava production and processing; Rubber production and processing; Coconut replanting and expansion; Coconut and banana intercropping; and Fishery development program.

Gov. Malanyaon said while the provincial government's Pagkain at Kita and Agri-Business Development Programs provides technical and technological assistance to the marginalized farmers, fisherfolk and micro enterprises, the REACH program will complement her poverty alleviation efforts by providing trainings "to change mindsets" and capacitate the indigent beneficiaries to become entrepreneurs.

The REACH program was formalized through an executive order issued by Malanyaon in May last year, according to Thelma Tajore, the program's coordinator.

Tajore said the one-year-old REACH program has already made considerable success in changing the mindsets of many indigent people in the eleven municipalities of the province.

During her regular visits especially to the highly impoverished villages in the province, Malanyaon and the movers of the REACH program would share many "tips in getting rich" to the indigent beneficiaries of the REACH program.

Among these "getting rich" tips are: Learn the value of time, Set life-long goals, Stay out of debt, Learn to accept failure, Develop winning attitudes and habits, Keep everything in focus, Work with the right kind of people, Develop total self-discipline, Have faith and Make happiness. (PNA)
LOR/Ferdinand O. Zuasola/lvp

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