OPENING REMARKS by Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan First National Consultation on Post-2015 Development Agenda 3 December 2012, 9:00 am to 4:30 pm Tribeca and Chelsea Function Rooms, Astoria Plaza, Pasig City

Ms. Luisa Carvalho, the UN Resident Coordinator; Mr. Toshihiro Tanaka, the UNDP Country Director; good friends from fellow government offices; friends from the civil society; representatives from donor agencies as well as development partners; good morning.

Our reason for being  here today is to discuss and actively participate in defining the Philippines’ post-2015 development agenda.  Most of us are aware that  the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs, is 2015.   But then, we may have to look beyond 2015 through an assessment of what we have achieved and what we may have to do.

We are not alone in trying to firm up a post-2015 development agenda.  In fact, the United Nations has been conducting broad-based consultations on this matter in several countries, including the Philippines.

The post-2015 process and activities are crucial within the context of our efforts to achieve the MDGs.  Indeed, we have been faced with challenges in our resolve to achieve the MDGs that in the process we have come to  realize the importance of localizing our development goals and initiatives   and in forging public-private partnerships particularly in the areas of financing, technical assistance, and advocacy.  Much is still desired as we conclude our efforts towards achieving the MDGs in 2015.

We continue to face critical issues especially poverty, equity, and environmental degradation. These are issues, moreover, that have to be dealt with through actions and mechanisms consistent with the country’s commitment under the Rio+20.

In defining our post-2015 development agenda from a Philippine perspective, we need to engage the different development stakeholders in an inclusive discussion and debate in order to collectively craft the future we want and to further amplify the voice and aspirations of all sectors, especially the poor and marginalized. 

Our efforts to achieve inclusive growth and sustainable development hinge on objectively defining critical socioeconomic issues and crafting time-bound goals with measurable targets.  This national consultation thus provides us an opportunity to re-think and seriously consider the building blocks which would enunciate and affirm the key principles, pillars, and enablers of growth within the context of sustainable development.

We need to ensure the coherence between the post-Rio+20 and post-2015 development framework as a crucial complementation in crafting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the proposed Philippine Sustainable Development (SD) Action Plan. I would like to share with you that the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development met last week to firm up the Action Plan for next year and beyond.   And one of the things that we are putting up is the mainstreaming of sustainable development in the Philippine Development Plan, which is currently being updated in preparation for the SONA next year.  This long-term action plan will ensure that Sustainable Development is mainstreamed into the national, regional and local plans.  The country’s perspective on the Future We Want, the outcome document of the Rio+20 Conference, calls for concerted action and effective governance mechanisms that will facilitate the desired outcomes in the long-term.

While this process has undergone local consultations, continuing efforts to elicit an inclusive and broad-based participation of the different sectors are imperative. 

Today, we hope to gather as much views and recommendations that will form part of the Philippine position on the post-2015 agenda through your active participation in this constructive debate.

Finally, let me thank everyone for your active participation in this National Consultation and I look forward to substantive, innovative and transformative suggestions from you on the future we all want for our people and country.

Thank you very much.

M.R. No. 2012-083

03 December 2012