MARCH 13, 2024 – The reorganization of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretariat into the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDEV) will enable the institution to fulfill its expanded mandate more effectively as it helps shape and shepherd the nation’s social and economic development.
This was the message of NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, as he emphasized the need to elevate the agency’s status to a department during the inaugural public hearing of the Economy, Planning, and Development Bill in the 19th Congress on Wednesday, March 13 at the House of Representatives.
This measure is the latest iteration of the proposal to reorganize the NEDA into the DEPDEV in pursuit of enhanced policy coherence across the bureaucracy towards achieving the country’s socioeconomic goals. The bill will strengthen and streamline the powers and functions of the economic and planning agency to implement continuing and coordinated policies for national development and ensure that master plans are coordinated, synergistic, and responsive to emerging issues, as well as consistent with the country’s development priorities, strategies, and long-term vision.
“Proper planning can only go so far if it is not seamlessly linked with other equally essential steps in the cycle. These steps include budgeting, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, which feed back into the planning exercise. NEDA performs a catalytic role in each step. The reorganization of NEDA into the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development or DEPDEV would strengthen NEDA’s mandate and give the agency equal footing with other Executive departments, thereby reinforcing such linkages,” Balisacan stated before the House Joint Committee on Government Reorganization and Economic Affairs.
Furthermore, the bill seeks to promote stronger planning-budgeting linkages and more guided implementation of programs and policies consistent with the country’s development agenda. The DEPDEV will be mandated to issue a planning call directing the government’s planning cycle by prescribing standards, guidelines, as well as compliance and accountability mechanisms. The DEPDEV shall also update the long-term vision as well as national and subnational development plans and work closely with the Department of Budget and Management to ensure the alignment of the annual and multi-year budget appropriations for the implementation of priority programs and projects to attain identified development targets.
Furthermore, the bill will also provide the DEPDEV the mandate of formulating a medium-term national evaluation agenda and oversee the government’s conduct of evaluation studies for its programs and projects. The DEPDEV will also be tasked to implement a capacity-building program on development policy and planning for national and regional government agencies, as well as local government units.
“The reorganization will help ensure that well-crafted plans do not remain just that and that the policies and projects that the government approves are adequately monitored to check on their progress and rigorously evaluated to examine their effectiveness in realizing intended outcomes,” Balisacan said.
NEDA’s beginnings could be traced to as early as 1935, through the creation of its forerunner, the National Economic Council (NEC), under Commonwealth Act No. 2 that was approved by the National Assembly on December 23, 1935. The NEC’s principal mandate was to advise the national government on the formulation and adoption of a State economic program based on the policy of national independence.
Under Presidential Decree 107 issued in 1973, the NEDA was established as the primary agency responsible for formulating continuing, coordinated and fully integrated social and economic plans and programs. Meanwhile, Executive Order (EO) No. 230, series of 1987 mandated the NEDA Secretariat to serve as the research and technical arm of the NEDA Board, chaired by the President.
Over the years, the agency has played increasingly significant roles as the economy confronted various domestic and external challenges. NEDA spearheads the coordination of activities such as the formulation of policies, plans, and programs to set the broad socioeconomic parameters at the national and regional levels. It undertakes the review, evaluation, and monitoring of infrastructure projects identified under the Comprehensive and Integrated Infrastructure Program consistent with the government’s thrust of increasing investment spending to address the growing demand for quality infrastructure facilities and enable the creation of more and higher-quality jobs. It also undertakes policy reviews to provide critical analyses of emerging socioeconomic issues and lays down policy alternatives to advise decision-makers and policymakers in the Executive and Legislative branches of government.
“In a fast-changing and increasingly complex world, the institutions playing a role in our country’s economic governance must evolve to meet the needs of the times. We hope that Congress will recognize that the reorganization of NEDA into the DEPDEV will help our institution fulfill its mandate to serve the country and bring us closer toward the matatag, maginhawa, at panatag na buhay that we all aspire for,” the government’s chief economic planner said.
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