RDC Excom and Advisory Committee Meeting participants start the session with an invocation led by Dir. Imee Laceras of DBM. On her left are Atty. Capangpangan of Philhealth, Dir. Alburo of Mines and Geosciences Bureau and Dir. Sibbaluca of DENR.

The Regional Development Council (RDC) Region VIII gears up to implement the Eastern Visayas Regional Development Plan (RDP) 2004-2010. The RDP and the Regional Development Investment Program (RDIP) 2005-2010 were approved during the full-Council meeting last November 19, 2004 at the NEDA Regional Office.

Last December 8, 2004, the RDC organized a joint RDC Advisory and RDC Executive Committee Meeting in Pasig City . The purpose was to advocate the Plan to legislators and national government officials of the country to obtain their full support in Plan implementation.

Secretary Gabriel Claudio, Cabinet Officer for Regional Development (CORD) for Eastern Visayas commended the RDC Chair, Governor Rosette Y. Lerias as well as the other officers and members of RDC VIII, for being able to put together a Plan that is highly relevant and complimentary with the national objectives, thrusts and priorities set by the President, and by the Cabinet themselves through the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP). “You will notice”, Secretary Claudio commented, “ that one of the priorities under the MTPDP as well as the 10-Point Agenda of the President herself is the decongestion of Metro Manila through the creation and facilitation of growth of regional centers”. He pointed out that “Because of the potentials, the opportunities and the talents in Region VIII, there is no reason why Region VIII cannot be one of the faster growing regional centers”.

RDC officers and members at work.

The meeting conducted in Manila was only the beginning of a series of RDP advocacy activities to be done by the RDC and Sectoral Committees. This year, the various sectoral committees will sit down in their first meeting this year to map out priority regional activities that the RDC will champion to implement the Plan. They will also go down to the provinces to inform the public of the priorities and development directions contained in the Plan. The advocacy activities at the local level will be conducted in partnership with the League of Provinces. The region will also advocate to Congressmen for them to identify programs, projects and activities (PPAs) from their Priority Development Assistance Fund ( PDAF ) to complement the strategies and PPAs listed in the Plan.

The RDC Sectoral Committees have started to convene their respective technical working groups to initially discuss priority activities supportive of the Plan. On top of the commitments made by the local governments and agencies, the Sectoral Committes will initiate different activities, some of these can be policy studies to resolve issues confronting the region. Likewise, monitoring Plan implementation shall be a basic activity of all Sectoral Commitees. Investment for a have also been identified as a veue to draw in the interest and active participation of private business groups, especially in the implementation of agri-industry development strategies of the region.

The January meetings of the four Sectoral Committees will set Plan implementation into motion.