In line with the guidelines provided under DBM’s National Budget Memorandum No. 122 dated January 28, 2015, the Regional Development Council of Northern Mindanao (RDC-X) held a simultaneous sector committee consultation on March 10 in Cagayan de Oro City to determine whether programs and projects proposed by agencies for 2016 are responsive to the region’s needs and priorities.
In his opening remarks, Regional Director (RD) Leon M. Dacanay , Jr., of the NEDA Regional Office (NRO) X emphasized RDC’s role in determining the importance of the proposed programs and projects to the development of the region and the country as a whole. He cited that while Region X remains to have the highest share of PhP59 billion from the regionalized portion of the 2014 budget among the Mindanao regions, achieving inclusive growth and poverty reduction still remain the biggest challenge that need to be addressed. Hence, everyone is enjoined to be more proactive and vigilant in reviewing the proposed programs and projects of agencies to attain the said goals.
Led by RDC-X Vice-Chairperson, NRO X RD Dacanay, the sectoral committee consultations was presided over by Ms. Imelda G. Manginsay for Macro and Development Administration; Director Alfonso P.Alamban, Economic Development; Mayor Nelieta Q.Novalfor, Social Development; and Mayor Philip T. Tan, Infrastructure and Utilities Development.
Around thirty seven government agencies in Region X presented their budget proposals for 2016 to their respective sectoral committees. These include DOLE and DILG from the Macro & Development Administration Sector; CHED, DepEd, CMU, CPSC, NMSC, BSU, MSU-IIT, MOSCAT, MUST, DOH, DSWD, TESDA, NHA and NCIP from the Social Development Sector; DA, BFAR, DAR, DENR, EMB, MGB, DTI, DOST, and DOT from the Economic Development Sector; and DPWH, LTO, MARINA, PPA Misamis Oriental/Cagayan de Oro, PPA-Lanao del Norte/Iligan, PPA Misamis Occidental/Ozamiz, ICT Office, NTC, DOE-Mindanao, NPC, COWD and NIA from the Infrastructure/Utilities Development Sector. More than 150 representatives of regional line agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations, state universities and colleges, private sector organizations, and local government units participated in the said consultation.
Among the recommendations of sectoral committees for concerned agencies were to: (a) improve and upgrade performance levels to achieve respective major final outputs and organizational outcomes; (b) evaluate the performance of ongoing programs and projects in terms of achieving the objectives; (c) ensure inclusive implementation of critical programs and projects focusing on the poor and the vulnerable sectors; (d) accelerate preparations for the K to 12 implementation particularly for senior high school; (e) maximize the 255 megawatts capacity of the Pulangui 4 hydroelectric power plant; and (f) reconsider the 2015 budget for PAMANA programs in the absence of budget estimates for 2016.
The final 2016 budget proposals of Region X agencies will be presented to the RDC-X during its 104th Full Council Meeting on March 19 and the RDC-X Advisory Committee on March 23.
