Joint meeting set for 3 Eastern Visayas reg’l councils

TACLOBAN CITY, Nov. 28 -- About 150 key officials of Eastern Visayas will meet next week in Ormoc City for the first joint meeting of three regional bodies to tackle issues related to economic development, peace and order, and disaster resiliency.

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Regional Director Bonifacio Uy, also vice-chair of the Regional Development Council (RDC), said this is the first time in the country that members of the RDC, Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC), and the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) will jointly meet.

It will be held at the Ormoc City Hall on Dec. 3, with actor-Mayor Richard Gomez as host.

“Knowing that this is the first ever in the country, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año have expressed their interest to attend this meeting,” Uy said.

On top of the agenda is the passage of a resolution supporting the creation of a Department of Disaster Management (DDM), now pending at the Senate.

President Rodrigo Duterte called for the creation of a Department of Disaster Management in his State of the Nation Address on July 23 as many areas in the country face natural threats. On Oct. 1, the House of Representatives approved a bill creating the new department.

Currently, efforts to minimize risks against disasters are handled by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, an agency established by law in 2010.

It “is a working group of various government, non-government, civil sector and private sector organizations, administered by the Office of Civil Defense under the Department of National Defense.”

Another agenda is the proposal to pass the responsibility of building roads in conflict-stricken areas in the Samar provinces from the Department of Public Works and Highways to the Philippine Army engineering brigade.

The implementation of multi-million Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) infrastructure projects has been moving slowly in the Samar areas due to threats of the New People’s Army, according to RDC reports.

Adding to the delay are politics and the absence of a technical working group, PAMANA-Samar area manager Imelda Bonifacio said in an earlier interview.

PAMANA is the national government’s convergence program that extends development interventions to isolated, hard-to-reach and conflict-affected communities, ensuring that they are not left behind.

The joint meeting will be led by RDC chairperson Tacloban City Mayor Cristina Gonzalez-Romualdez, RPOC chairperson Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan, and RDRRMC head, Office of Civil Defense Regional Director Henry Anthony Torres.

“This meeting will consolidate our efforts to attain socio-economic development, lasting peace, and disaster management and resiliency. The idea of the joint meeting emanated from one of the RPOC meetings in Samar which Secretary Lorenzana attended,” Uy added.

The RDC is the highest planning and policy-making body in the region. It serves as the counterpart of the NEDA Board at the sub-national level. It is the primary institution that coordinates and sets the direction of all economic and social development efforts in the region.

The RDRRMC provides for the development of policies and plans and the implementation of actions and measures pertaining to all aspects of disaster risk reduction and management, including good governance, risk assessment and early warning, knowledge building and awareness raising, reducing underlying risk factors, and preparedness for effective response and early recovery.

As a coordinating body, the RPOC is tasked to provide a forum for dialogue and deliberation of major issues and problems affecting peace and order, including insurgency. (SQM/PNA)