NEDA KICKS OFF 4-MONTH CELEBRATION OF 40TH ANNIVERSARY
NEDA to achieve ‘greater heights’ with the Filipino nation, says Balisacan
MANILA—The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) kicked off its four-month celebration of its 40thanniversary in simple rites on September 25, 2012.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, in his remarks, said that the NEDA “makes a significant contribution to the life of this country.”
“NEDA has gone through ups and downs, following the cycles of our economy that has its booms and busts. What we hope to achieve in the next couple of years is nothing but boom, and that should reflect well on NEDA,” he added.
Balisacan, who is also NEDA Director-General, said that he hopes that the NEDA gains more maturity, respect and success in the coming years, together with other government agencies with the leadership of President Benigno S. Aquino III.
“As we move to the next decade of the life of NEDA, we hope that we’ll be able to achieve greater heights, not only for ourselves but more importantly for the Filipino nation. I think it’s high time that our country will have its own place in this region—a place of greatness, a place of economic success,” he said.
Barely five months in his position in NEDA, Balisacan is grateful for the NEDA personnel for always doing their best in contributing towards sustaining the momentum of the Philippine economy.
“I know that our potentials are quite enormous. I do think that we are just scratching the surface of that potential, and through our concerted efforts in working as a family, I do believe that we can achieve our full potentials, and can help this country become a great country for our children,” he said.
4-month celebration
The agency’s anniversary celebration will culminate on January 24, 2013, or 40 years after the signing of Presidential Decree (PD) No. 107 that concluded the series of laws creating NEDA.
On September 24, 1972, President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed PD No. 1 that approved the implementation of the Integrated Reorganization Plan (IRP), which proposed the restructuring of the bureaucracy “to promote simplicity, economy, and efficiency in the government.” The IRP proposed the creation of NEDA by merging the Presidential Economic Staff and the National Economic Council.
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, the 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.
Under the NEDA Board are seven interagency committees, namely the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), Investment Coordination Committee (ICC), Infrastructure Committee (InfraCom), Social Development Committee (SDC), Committee on Tariff and Related Matters (CTRM), Regional Development Committee (RDCom), and National Land Use Committee (NLUC).
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 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. 2012-070
07 October 2012
