With the success of the first Planners Convention in the region last year, the Regional Development Council 2 celebrated its founding anniversary with yet another round of Planners Convention featuring the updates on the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016 and major development planning concerns particularly in disaster management and budgeting programs, with the theme “Forging Best Results from Actions of Local Planners for Regional Economic Development,” on September 19, 2013 at the Crown Pavilion, Tuguegarao City.

Said offshoot activity was graced by NEDA Assistant Director-General for Planning Rosemarie G. Edillon and participated in by a hundred local planners from various line agencies and local government units (LGUs). The outgoing and incoming RDC 2 Private Sector Representatives were also present.

“The activity aims to update our partners on tasks and activities that have been developed, and have been forged as partnerships between and among our local planners, to enhance the linkages of development and enable better results from the continuing efforts of the local planners in realizing regional economic development,” said RDC 2 Acting Vice-Chair and NEDA 2 OIC-Regional Director MaryAnne E.R. Darauay.

Through the expertise of ADG Edillon, the local planners were updated on the economic situation of the country as against the PDP’s targets and the identified gaps and interventions from the updated plan. Likewise, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Planning Chief Philip Labugen presented the activities implemented by several agencies in response to the administration’s efforts of mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and management in national and local governance.

The Performance Informed Budgeting Framework was also introduced by DBM Assistant Regional Director Alice R. Trinidad, which will form part of the General Appropriations Act for the Fiscal Year 2014. “The new budgeting perspective aims to link resources to results and support broader outcomes. This shall also reflect non-financial performances alongside budgetary allocations in order to focus on measurable results,” said Director Trinidad.

Meanwhile, the Assistant Regional Director of the Bureau of Local Government Finance in the region, Mr. Gilbert B. Gumabay, comprehensively discussed the local financing on countryside development needs which garnered dynamic interactions from the LGU participants.