Congress representatives of Northern Mindanao (NorMin) expressed support to the NorMin Regional Development Plan (RDP) and Regional Development Investment Program (RDIP) 2017-2022 as well as the region’s 2018 budget requirement amounting to PHP154.9 billion. This was discussed during the NorMin Regional Development Council (RDC) Advisory Committee (AdCom) meeting on April 24 in Cagayan de Oro City.
The 2018 proposed budget covers the region’s 28 agencies and six universities and colleges to implement priority programs and projects included in the RDIP for 2017-2022.
Regional Director Leon M. Dacanay, Jr. of the NEDA Regional Office in NorMin presented the RDIP 2017-2022 with a six-year requirement of PHP693.9 billion wherein 68 percent of the budget is intended for infrastructure development.
Meanwhile, Governor Jose Maria R. Zubiri thanked the congress representatives for their continuing support to the RDC and its budget priorities, as manifested by an approval rate of 81 percent of RDC-endorsed agency budgets in 2017.
More than half of the budget requirements were allotted for the social sector with PHP83.3 billion (53.8%) followed by infrastructure sector with PHP62.5 billion (40.3%). The economic and macro sectors require a total of PHP8.7 billion (5.6%) and PHP439.4 million (0.3%), respectively.
Among the agencies, the Department of Public Works and Highways has the biggest budget requirement of PHP58.5 billion followed by the Department of Education with PHP52.2 billion for 2018.
Peleta B. Abejo, NEDA NorMin-DRD
Photos by NEDA NorMin