August 13, 2019
MANILA – The National Economic and Development Authority will celebrate its 84th anniversary on December 23, after it retraced its roots to the creation of the National Economic Council (NEC).
The agency’s new anniversary was determined after it was concluded that the NEDA Board originated from the NEC, which was established on December 23, 1935 through the Commonwealth Act No. 2. This is also certified by the National Historical Commission.
“As an independent country, Filipino leaders have been planning for our country’s development decades before NEDA was officially established as the central planning agency of the Philippines. The creation of the National Economic Council in 1935 forms an important part of NEDA’s identity and it is only fitting that we recognize December 23, 1935 as our founding date,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia.
NEDA previously celebrated its founding anniversary on January 24, based on the issuance of Presidential Decree No. 7 in 1973 by then President Ferdinand Marcos.
The agency also celebrates its Socio-economic Planning and Development Week every December 17 to 23 of every calendar year, as proclaimed by former President Corazon C. Aquino since November 19, 1990. It was also on December 18, 1935 when then-President Manuel L. Quezon proclaimed before the National Assembly his proposal to create the NEC and established development planning in the Philippine government.
Pernia also said that NEDA welcomes bills (Senate Bill No. 169 and House Bill No. 79) re-filed in the 18th Congress seeking to institutionalize NEDA as the lead integrator of economic development programs and policies.
“There has long been a recognition of the need to have long-term, continuing, integrated, and coordinated programs and policies. For almost 84 years now, NEDA has always been at the forefront in this area. NEDA’s role has become even more important as we now work in a sustained manner towards our long-term vision, Ambisyon Natin 2040, the Filipino people’s collective aspiration of a matatag, maginhawa, at panatag na buhay para sa lahat, spanning at least four administrations,” Pernia said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Budget and Management on July 19, 2019 formalized the change in titles of key positions in NEDA to align these with their counterparts in other department-level entities in the Executive Branch of government. The names Director-General, Deputy Directors-General, and Assistant Directors-General have been dropped in favor of Secretary, Undersecretaries, and Assistant Secretaries, respectively. DBM also posed no objection to the renaming of NEDA’s four major Offices to Policy and Planning Group, Investment Programming Group, Regional Development Group, and Corporate Affairs Group (from Central Support Office).
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