The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Rose de la Cruz
For the longest time, the agriculture and education sectors were not represented in the all-important NEDA Board (which comprise of practically the financial and Cabinet Secretaries minus both of them) and this has resulted in the inequitable distribution of the country’s resources based on the plans and programs designed by the board.
At least, now both department secretaries have seats in the NEDA Board Executive Committee (Excom) for better socioeconomic development planning and policy coordination with the view to achieving coordinated and fully integrated social and economic policies, plans and programs.
The present NEDA Board is composed of: the President (as chair) and the NEDA Secretary as vice chair; with members as the office of executive secretary, the special assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs; and the secretaries of budget, energy, finance, human settlements and urban development, public works and highways, trade and industry, transportation, Mindanao Development Authority, and the Bangko Sentral.
NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan explained that the membership of DA and DepEd would ensure that the administration’s priorities “with respect to agriculture and food security, as well as education and the development of skills for a competitive economy, are properly attended to.”
He said the proposed Philippine Civil Service Modernization Project — an “important project for the development of human resource management processes in the public sector” — was also discussed during Wednesday’s NEDA Board meeting.
The Board also approved a request to increase the project cost of the Metro Manila Priority Bridges Seismic Improvement Project and also extend the corresponding implementation period and loan validity of the project.
It seeks to “strengthen the resilience of the transport network in Metro Manila by replacing two major bridges, Lambingan Bridge and Guadalupe Bridge, on the arterial roadways with the improved seismic bridge design specifications,” according to a website post by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which funds the project.
The Department of Public Works and Highways in April said the seismic improvement project will ultimately help decongest Metro Manila roads.
The Board also tackled the proposed upgrade and expansion of both the Bohol International Airport and Northern Mindanao’s Laguindingan International Airport, Balisacan said.
“We also reported on the progress in the implementation of the 186 infrastructure flagship projects,” he said, citing an earlier NEDA statement that 45 projects funded through foreign loans or grants were classified as problematic.
Balisacan said NEDA was determining the process for undertaking the review of rice tariffs every four months. Rice import tariffs were cut to 15% following the issuance of Executive Order No. 62, but are subject to periodic review.
“We are already preparing the methodologies on how to undertake that review, so we don’t necessarily waste time,” he said, adding that NEDA should be able to give the President timely updates.