Conducted on March 25-27, 2014 at the northernmost tip of Luzon Island, the RDCom-Luzon meeting brought together more than twenty NEDA officials and staff in Sta. Ana, the home of the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Free Port (CSEZFP).

NEDA Deputy-Director (DDG) Margarita R. Songco of the Regional Development Office (RDO) and Regional Development Staff (RDS) Director Remedios S. Endencia led the delegation and were joined by Regional Directors Milagros A. Rimando of NEDA-CAR, Nestor G. Rillon of NRO1, MaryAnne ER. Darauay of NRO2, and Severino C. Santos of NRO3. Also present were OIC-ARD Dolly Molintas of NEDA-CAR, Acting ARD Edna Cynthia Berces of NRO5, and other staff from all the NEDA regional offices in Luzon.

Among the agenda deliberated upon was the draft Luzon Spatial Strategy (LSS) presented by RD Santos which proposes to group all Luzon regions into clusters based on their specialized sectors. The three clusters are: the North Triad comprised of Regions 1, 2, 3 and CAR as the center for agriculture and fisheries, high-value crops, tourism and light/medium industry; the Megalopolis Manila for NCR and Region 4A (CALABARZON) for the services industry, residential centers and the financial hub; and the Southern Destinations for Regions 4B (MIMAROPA) and 5 for eco-tourism, bio-diversity conservation and agri-fishery.

Other issues discussed were the updating of the Regional Physical Framework Plan (RPFP), the power study conducted by NRO2, and the lineup of RDCom activities for 2014-2016.

Part of the RDCom meeting were project visits to selected development projects such as Port Irene’s Breakwater Facility and the Lal-lo International Airport. The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) facilitated the project visits and also gave the guests a comprehensive briefing on the CSEZFP development plan and a tour of their Data Processing Center and the Cagayan Holiday and Leisure Resort.

The participants also visited the famous Palaui Island through a Palaui Ecotourism Development project visit. A popular tourist destination, Palaui Island earned the 10th spot in the CNN’s World’s 100 Best Beaches list because of its “raw beauty”. It was also used as the filming location for two consecutive seasons of the US show Survivor.

The RDCom-Luzon TWG will again convene on April 23, 2014 in Baguio City to finalize the proposal for the LSS. For CY 2014-2016, the Committee will continue to conduct advocacies on the Luzon Spatial Development Framework, dialogues between RDC and agency central offices, network building, and railway development activities.