AUGUST 2, 2024 — An institutionalized Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDEV) is necessary to empower the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to fulfill its mandate of fostering socioeconomic development in the Philippines.

NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan made this pitch for the Economy, Planning, and Development Bill or NEDA Bill at the recent Senate hearing last July 30. Balisacan stated  that the establishment of the DEPDEV would strengthen NEDA’s capacities to plan, formulate and recommend policies, review and coordinate public investments, as well as monitor and evaluate programs and projects in line with the Philippine Development Plan. 

The hearing was held by the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs, joint with the Committees on Civil Service, Government Reorganization and Professional Regulation and Finance. 

The government’s chief economic planner elaborated during the public hearing that the reorganization of NEDA into a department would help address issues such as the inconsistency of public policies; misalignment between national and regional plans; limited linkages among planning, investment programming, budgeting, monitoring & evaluation, and feedback to planning; and the lack of continuity of plans and programs. 

During the hearing, Senate Committee on Economic Affairs Chairperson Senator Miguel Zubiri and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian expressed their support for the creation of a stronger link between the planning and budgeting aspects of project implementation, as this ensures that the programs and projects under the plans crafted by NEDA and the various Regional Development Councils (RDCs) are funded. 

“Linking the national plans to the budget is a very challenging issue. While the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and NEDA have been cooperating and coordinating over the years in matching the programs and projections (PAPs) in the plans with the budgeting, this has been ad hoc and dependent on the decisions of the current secretaries because it has not been institutionalized or included in their respective mandates. That’s what we are trying to address in this bill,” said Balisacan. 

Balisacan said the move to become a full-fledged department will institutionalize the monitoring and evaluation of priority programs, activities, and projects (PAPs) by government units across the country, regardless of the priorities of the current administration. 

“Evaluation is also one that we are trying to strengthen because we really don’t have a systematic process of seeing whether the projects that are being supported are working or not, are achieving their objectives or not… That’s a major feature we want to do here so that we can ensure that the projects being funded by the people’s money are actually achieving their objectives,” said Balisacan. 

Senator Imee Marcos, who is among the senators pushing for the passage of the NEDA Bill, expressed her support in converting NEDA into a full-blown department in line with Article 12, Section 9 of the Constitution which mandates the Congress to establish an independent economic and planning agency led by the President. 

Following the hearing, Zubiri advised NEDA and relevant stakeholders that a technical working group will be convened to consolidate the various versions and expedite the passage of the NEDA Bill. 

 

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