NEDA CELEBRATES 40TH ANNIVERSARY, EXHIBITS POST-WAR DEV’T PLANS
MANILA—The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) celebrated its 40th anniversary this month by commemorating its milestones and achievements through different activities.
“Through the years, we have had our highs and lows as an institution. These experiences have served as wake-up calls for us at NEDA to re-examine ourselves, and put in place policies and reforms and to have more commitment to uphold the values that have shaped the foundation of our institution,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan.
Balisacan, who is also NEDA Director-General added: “Forty years have taught us important lessons, as we now embrace our mandated responsibility with renewed vigour and dedicate ourselves to more ably contribute to our nation’s development in the years ahead.”
Dev’t Plan Exhibit
One of the highlights of the celebration is the opening of an exhibit that showcases copies of past national development plans, including those related to post-World War II rehabilitation.
“The oldest document we have is the Hibben Plan, which dates back to 1947. Due to wear and tear, we are embarking on saving these historical pieces of information through digitization,” said Balisacan.
The Hibben Plan was a technical memorandum for the Joint Philippine-American Finance Commission dated June 7, 1947 prepared by Thomas Hibben, then adviser of the United States Department of Commerce.
Other technical plans that are part of the exhibit include, among others, the 1947 Beyster Plan prepared by the Philippine National Development Company with supervision by the H.E. Beyster Corporation (“Proposed Program for Industrial Rehabilitation and Development of the Republic of the Philippines”); the 1954 Rodriguez Plan by Acting NEC Chair Filemon Rodriguez (“The Five-Year Economic Development Program for Fiscal Years 1955-1959”); and medium-term development plans prepared by NEDA since the agency’s inception in 1974.
Apart from the exhibit, other activities in line for the 40th anniversary celebration include a night with former NEDA Directors-General in February and a photo exhibit featuring “NEDA in 40 years” in March, among others.
NEDA History
It was 40 years ago when President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed a Presidential Decree (PD) that concluded a series of laws creating NEDA.
On September 24, 1972, Marcos signed PD No. 1 that approved the implementation of the Integrated Reorganization Plan (IRP). The IRP, which aimed to restructure the bureaucracy, proposed the creation of NEDA by merging the Presidential Economic Staff, National Economic Council, and other ad hoc economic bodies.
On November 01, 1972, Marcos signed PD No. 1-A, which amended PD No. 1 to include the President as chair of NEDA.
Finally, on January 24, 1973, Marcos signed PD No. 107, which officially established NEDA with powers and functions as outlined in both the IRP and the 1973 Constitution that was ratified a week earlier.
‘Independent planning agency’
Currently, NEDA functions as the “independent planning agency of the government,” as provided in Article XII (Section 9) of the 1987 Constitution. President Corazon C. Aquino later issued Executive Order No. 230 on July 22, 1987 that reorganized NEDA into two separate and distinct entities: the NEDA Board and the NEDA Secretariat.
The NEDA Board is the country’s highest development planning and policy coordinating body. It is chaired by the President, vice-chaired by the Socioeconomic Planning Secretary, and comprised of various Cabinet secretaries, the President of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, the Governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and the Deputy Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
On the other hand, the NEDA Secretariat is the Board’s research and technical support arm headed by a Director-General, concurrent as Socioeconomic Planning Secretary. The NEDA Secretariat has four main offices, namely National Development Office (NDO) for Planning and Policy, NDO for Investment Programming, Central Support Office (CSO) and Regional Development Office (RDO), which includes 15 regional offices.
In addition, seven government institutions are attached under the NEDA Secretariat, namely the National Statistical and Coordination Board (NSCB), National Statistics Office (NSO), Statistical Research and Training Center (SRTC), Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), Tariff Commission (TC), Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency (PNVSCA), and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center.
M.R. No. 2013-011
29 January 2013
