COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Board’s Investment Coordinating Committee (ICC) has approved two giant projects that are expected to boost development efforts in Southern Philippines, notably the lagging Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The ICC approved the P3.75 billion Basic Education Assistance for Muslim Mindanao (BEAMM) and the P7.2-billion Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management Project (INREMP), which will cover four river basins including that of Lanao del Sur, a component province of the ARMM, according to concerned officials.

The ICC gave its nod on the two projects at its Cabinet committee conference in Metro Manila on August 17, even as NEDA and ARMM officials were optimistic that the executive board of the state’s top planning body led by the President would sustain the approval this month.

“We are optimistic the project will gain confirmation from the NEDA Board chaired by President Aquino this month,” ARMM’s Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Baratucal Caudang said Monday, saying that such board decision “is a matter of formality after the ICC’s nod.”

The education development package is funded with a P3.57 billion grant from the Australian Agency for International Development’s (AusAID’s) Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao (BEAM), with a Philippine government counterpart of P357 million, the NEDA’s Web site said.

The BEAM usually serves all regions in Mindanao, but it has decided this time to give focus on the ARMM alone in deference to the region’s having the lowest literacy rate in the country, officials said.

The BEAM for Muslim Mindanao will be implemented from 2012 to 2018 by the DepEd-ARMM “to improve basic education performance in the ARMM by addressing fundamental issues, such as low levels of intake, participation, completion rates, and learning achievement for both high school and elementary education,” the agency’s Web site also said.

It has four components with specific implementation modalities: (a) early childhood education; (b) school health and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities; (c) technical-vocational training and skills development for out-of-school children and youth; and, (d) alternative delivery model for preschool/elementary education in rural and indigenous peoples’ areas.

While the INREMP, on the other hand, aims to implement an Integrated Environmental Management within the priority watersheds of the four river basins, namely the Upper Bukidnon river basin in Bukidon and Misamis Oriental (Northern Mindanao), Chico river basin in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Wahig-Inabanga river basin in Bohol (Central Visayas), and the Lake Lanao river basin bounded by Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte in the ARMM.

It seeks to cover 1.14 million hectares in 83 towns and cities in nine provinces.

Of the proposed coverage area, 312,783 hectares would be subjected to reforestation and assisted natural regeneration.

The project would institutionalize the Payment for Ecosystems Services (PES) scheme, which is designed to find ways to generate revenues to pay providers the costs of conversation, and to enable downstream users to pay for the benefits of conserving upstream resources.