Region 6 needs P380B to recover from pandemic

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

 

Western Visayas will need at least 380.118 billion in the next three years (2020-2023) to finance the proposed projects for the region’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is based on the Regional Recovery Plan (RRP) for COVID-19 which was approved by the Regional Development Council of Western Visayas during its 2nd Quarter online meeting held on July 2, 2020.

The proposed budgets per sector are:

-Economic, P253.286 billion (66.63%);

-Social Services, P83.638 billion (22.01%);

-Governance, P37.144 billion (9.77%);

-Environment, P3.839 billion (1.01%); and

-Infra and Transpo, P2.210 billion (0.59%).

In a press statement, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)-6 regional director Ro-Ann A. Bacal said they will “provide a blueprint to bounce back and sustain regional economic growth as the region gradually transitions from responding to the COVID-19 pandemic to recovery under new normal conditions.”

Bacal is also vice-chair for rehabilitation and recovery of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council-6.

She pointed out that the team which consolidated the plan was guided by the “We Recover as One” technical paper prepared by the Inter-Agency  Task Force (IATF) Technical Working Group for Anticipatory and Forward Planning and is anchored on the guidelines and issuances of the IATF on the “new normal”.

The RRP identifies the strategies that need to be pursued to put in place new norms and sets of protocols in all sectors of society, according to the NEDA press statement.

It also calls for a cautious opening of the region’s economy, a redesigning of programs and projects, while consciously aware of the risks in daily activities and transactions.

“To capture the aspirations of the people, a series of multi-level and multi-sector focus group discussions were conducted among stakeholders from local government units, regional line agencies, the academe and private sector,” it added.

The formulation of the Plan started with the generation of inputs from the regional line agencies (RLAs), local government units (LGUs), and state universities and colleges (SUCs).

A video conference was conducted on April 25, 2020 to level off the process and to set a timetable for data requirements.

The RRP was drafted to include the thematic/sectors’ (health, economic and livelihood activity, social services, infrastructure and transport, governance and environment) assessment on the impact of the pandemic, setting of targets, strategies and policy agenda including the investment requirements.

The initial plan was submitted to the NEDA Central Office on May 15, 2020. One-on-one consultation with the RLAs, SUCs and LGUs was conducted from May 18-22, 2020 to review the draft Plan.

Vetting of programs, projects and activities (PPAs) with focal persons of RLAs, SUCs and LGUs were undertaken in the process of consolidating the investment requirements of the RRP.

Three-day on-line consultations (May 26-28) by thematic area were conducted with heads of agencies, SUCs and representatives from LGUs and private sector. The inputs generated in these consultations were taken into consideration in the refinement of the RRP.

The RRP was guided by the framework, defining the long-term societal goal, the medium-term goal and the thematic outcomes.

Consistent with the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 and the Filipinos’ long-term vision articulated in Ambisyon Natin 2040, the RRP’s long term societal goal is to have “safer, adaptive and disaster-resilient Filipino communities that are protected from risks and can cope with and recover quickly from unfortunate events”.

Toward this end, Western Visayas is envisioned to be more resilient in responding to public emergencies. (With information from NEDA-6 Development Research Division)