City of Koronadal, South Cotabato- Regional Development Council (RDC) XII passed Resolution No. 82, series of 2019, “ Approving and Adopting the SOCCSKSARGEN Regional Development Plan (RDP) 2017-2022 Midterm Update” during its 67th Regular and Reorganizational Meeting held in General Santos City on September 17, 2019.
The SOCCSKSARGEN RDP 2017-2022 Midterm Update underwent a long, conscientious, participative, and inclusive process prior to its approval and adoption.
The plan updating activities commenced in March 2019 upon RDC XII’s approval and adoption of the preliminary guidelines and the passage of a resolution constituting the four (4) SecComs as the Regional Planning Committees (RPCs).
The Council spearheaded the process of updating, approving, adopting, and endorsing the plan. It also steered several activities such as data gathering and initial assessment, focus group discussions (FGDs) with the LGUs, consistency review and validation of challenges and strategies and proposed legislations with the members of the RPCs, and the multi-sectoral stakeholders’ area consultations.
The SOCCSKSARGEN RDP 2017-2022 Midterm Update contains 21 Chapters and each chapter covers assessment and challenges, development strategies, priority legislative agenda, priority projects, and harmonized results matrices for the plan’s strategic outcomes.
The said plan is anchored on the six (6) guiding principles such as the strategic partnership and convergence, sustainable development (SD), gender and development (GAD), population and development (POPDEV), volunteerism, and building-up resiliency.
These guiding principles are at the core of the strategies in addressing development issues and concerns for the remaining three (3) years of the Duterte Administration. In addition, the RDP Midterm Update has mainstreamed the 12 Lines of Efforts (LOEs) that are anchored on Executive Order No. 70, series of 2018 which is the Whole-of-Nation approach to end local communist armed conflict and adopting a National Peace Framework.
The eradication of poverty still remains the greatest challenge that confronts SOCCSKSARGEN. The region is the fifth poorest region in the country based on the 2018 first semester poverty report of the Philippine Statistics Authority. Thus, it is in this context that the SOCCSKSARGEN RDP 2017-2022 Midterm Update shall continue to pursue the development goal of laying down the foundation for inclusive growth, a high-trust and resilient society, and a globally-competitive knowledge economy by 2022.
The newly-approved development plan shall be endorsed to the NEDA Central Office by end of September 2019 and onward submission to the Office of the President as an accompanying document of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022 Midterm Update. (NEDA XII-PFPD)