The Cagayan Valley Regional Development Council (RDC) convened its first meeting for the year today, March 26, 2024, at the Provincial Capitol of Isabela in Ilagan City. On top of the agenda is the region’s proposals for budgetary allocation under the FY 2025 General Appropriations that require the Council’s endorsement. These include the:

• Top 3 priority projects that will be endorsed to the NEDA Board-Regional Development Committee;

• Budget proposals of 39 agencies including the regional offices, state universities and colleges, and GOCCs;

• Inclusion of the DOTr’s fund for master plans, feasibility studies, and surveys in the National Expenditure Program; and

• the DPWH proposed road projects.

Other lined-up agenda items include the endorsement of project proposals, namely: the Infrastructure for Safer and Resilient Schools Project of DepEd, the construction of the Balasig Small River Irrigation Project of NIA, the

SDC2 Chair and Quirino Governor Honorable Dakila Carlo E. Cua presided the 124th Regular Business Meeting of the Social Development Committee (SDC) via zoom on March 20, 2024.

The Committee endorsed the following social development concerns and policies to the RDC:

1) Philippines: Health System Resilience Project (HSRP) of the Department of Health, which aims to improve utilization of quality health services at the LGU level, and enhance health emergency prevention, preparedness and response in the province of Isabela.

2) Support to House Bill No. 8269, “An Act Protecting the Rights of Internally-Displaced Persons (IDP) and Penalizing the Acts of Arbitrary Internal Displacements” which seeks to adopt a human rights-based approach for the promotion and protection of the rights of IDPs during and after displacement.

3) “Panahon ng Pagkilos: Community-Based Climate Action under the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated

Isabela State University, Cauayan City, 7 February 2024. The Regional Gender and Development Committee RGADC) of the Regional Development Council (RDC2) successfully concluded the 2-day levelling session on increasing agency’s Gender and Development (GAD) attribution cum review of the 2023 GAD accomplishment report.

The levelling session was the first major activity of the RGADC for the year. It aims to strengthen the capacity of GFPS of RDC2-RGADC members on mainstreaming their mandated programs, support services, research, and instruction. The levelling session utilized learning techniques like lectures, workshops, question and answer, and presentation of outputs for participatory engagement.

The participants improved their ability to examine the nature, origin, extent, and effects of gender biases and issues using the Harvard, Moser, and Longwe frameworks as gender analysis tools. The importance of gender statistics which serve as evidences of the existence of gender gaps, inequality

In a concerted effort to ensure consistency of programs and projects (PAPs) in the FY 2025 budget proposals of the key regional agencies with the national and regional development thrusts, the RDC2 – Regional Budget Review Committee (RBRC) conducted a budget dialogue with the District Representatives in the region on February 15, 2024 at the NEDA Regional Office in Tuguegarao City.

The dialogue aims to ensure alignment and complementation of PAPs with the overall development vision of the current administration. The budget proposals of DA, BFAR, NIA, NIA-MARIIS, DENR, DTI, DepEd, DOH and DPWH were presented to provide the legislators an appreciation of the collective translation of the aspirations for a matatag, maginhawa at panatag na buhay. It also served as a chance to appeal to the region’s legislators to prioritize implementation-ready PAPs as reflected in the programming documents vis-à-vis the FY

The Regional Development Council 2 – Project Development Assistance Center (RDC2-PDAC) successfully held a Project Concept Note (PCN) Writing Workshop on June 25-26, 2024 at the Pamegafanan Hall, NEDA RO2 in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan. This initiative aimed to equip participants with the expertise to craft PCNs that meet minimum standards and attract potential private sector partners in the region.

NEDA Assistant Regional Director Engr. Ferdinand P. Tumaliuan graced the activity, highlighting the Center’s commitment to empowering stakeholders through PCN development skills training. He emphasized the importance of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements as one of the successful strategies for regional infrastructure development and service delivery.

The workshop delved into various topics including introductions to PPPs, project identification concepts, logical framework, and problem tree analysis. This knowledge gave the participants information in crafting at least one PCN each for the 31 agencies covering project