The National Economic and Development Authority regional office in Palo, Leyte where the Regional Development Council committees regularly hold meetings. (File photo)
TACLOBAN CITY – The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Eastern Visayas is tapping five entities to ensure that the 2023-2028 Regional Development Plan (RDP) will meet the target of improving the local economy.
Director Meylene Rosales, vice chairperson of the Regional Development Council (RDC), said Friday that necessary institutional arrangements and mechanisms are needed to effectively implement the RDP.
“There’s a chapter in the RDP that will help us transform plan into actions. The region will continue to tap five bodies or entities to take the lead in the implementation and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the RDP based on their respective mandates,” Rosales told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
By the end of 2028, Eastern Visayas aims to elevate economic growth by at least 7.5 percent, decrease joblessness to 5 percent, reduce poverty incidence to 16.7 percent of the population and keep food and headline inflation rates low and stable between 2 and 4 percent.
First on the list is the RDC, the highest policy-making body in the region which will oversee the key players in regional development.
The group will guarantee the realization of the plan’s goals and targets, according to Rosales.
These players are provincial governors, mayors of cities and municipalities, presidents of the provincial league of mayors, regional directors of line agencies including those represented in the NEDA Board, private sector representatives and special non-voting members.
The second is the regional line agencies, which will serve either as the lead implementing agency or as a partner agency.
Rosales said the agencies must initiate and be accountable for the implementation of the identified programs and projects in the plan and in effect, the attainment of their assigned targets outlined in the plan, the results matrices 2023-2028.
“We, in NEDA is one of that entity. As the secretariat of the RDC, we will provide technical and administrative support to the RDC to ensure that the coordination needed in facilitating implementation and M&E of the RDP will be carried out accordingly,” Rosales added.
Local government units are directed to primarily lead the delivery of basic services and facilities.
“The services and facilities fully devolved will be funded from the just share of the local governments in the proceeds of national taxes and other local revenues. Strong coordination between the local government and regional line agencies will be ensured to meet the RDP goals and targets. Local government units will take the lead in addressing issues and concerns identified in the plan,” she added.
The private sector, according to Rosales, could contribute through investments or capital formation, research, and development, sharing of skills and expertise, especially in business, acting as monitors or watchdogs in program implementation, and co-implementers of public-private partnership projects.
Eastern Visayas unveiled on Aug. 16 the 2023-2028 RDP, soliciting support from various sectors.
In 2022, the unemployment rate in the region is at 6.6 percent while poverty incidence was at 28.9 percent. In the same year, the headline inflation rate was at 6.6 percent.
The RDP will focus on intensifying the competitiveness of the services; enhancing the sector’s productive and innovative capacity; and promoting the creative and gig economy, keeping in mind the upgrading of the services workforce and the advancement of the services sector. (PNA)
