Neglect of the Mindanao economy has resulted in enormous difficulties to its inhabitants. While the Estrada administration declared that it would promote the development of Mindanao, its all-out war policy against the Muslim rebels has palpably decreased government resources earmarked for rehabilitation and reconstruction. Increasing military expenditures and the flawed institutional mechanisms that the administration established to address the socioeconomic and political problems of Mindanao will only ensure the attainment of the very opposite of the government's goal.
