ILOILO CITY— Local government units (LGUs) play a significant role in realizing the Regional Development Plan, said the top executive of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in Western Visayas on Thursday.
“It is really important for us to go around the province and cities to really tell them that this is our Regional Development Plan. It came from a collective consultation; our role is very important. Help us make this happen; help us resolve some of the problems we are encountering,” said NEDA Regional Director Ro-Ann Bacal during the Regional Development Plan roadshow facilitated by the Regional Development Council (RDC) and NEDA.
Bacal said local officials are “elected leaders and they are accountable to the constituents” and the regional offices representing the national government are present to provide them support.
Bacal, who is also the vice chairperson of RDC-6 (Western Visayas), said before participants from Iloilo that the crafting of the 2017-2022 Regional Development Plan was guided by the “Ambisyon Natin 2040” and also took into account the vision of the current administration.
“Ambisyon Natin 2040” is a 25-year long term vision of the Philippines seeking to end poverty by 2040.
Meantime, the region’s plan will serve as its “development blueprint.”
“It is significant because there are a lot of players when we pursue the things that we would like to happen in the region. We would like to make sure that everyone is in sync with our development agenda and that we move forward with the same objectives and targets that are espoused in the Regional Development Plan,” she added.
The plan has 22 chapters that tackle the various concerns of different sectors, she said.
Among the important points are improving the investment climate to entice more investors; pursuing a more consolidated marketing of local products for farmers to get the prices that they want at farm level while at the same time making them affordable, education issues such as training; health aspect, infrastructure support, environmental protection and resiliency, tapping technology and emerging technology to boost production areas and security, among others.
Bacal said the plan will be realized because local chief executives in the region are also “development oriented”. “They want their places to be improved,” she said.
The event in Iloilo is the fourth of the series of roadshows undertaken by the NEDA and the RDC. They will soon visit Aklan, Antique and Capiz.
“After this we will now rely on the sector committees of the RDC to follow up on the commitments from the agencies and the LGUs,” she said. (Perla Lena/PNA)
