THE National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said it has reminded government agencies of the need to hit targets outlined in the country’s medium-term economic plan.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia signed on March 28 Memorandum Circular No. 1, notifying officials belonging to various interagency bodies that they will be held accountable for targets spelled out in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022.
“The relevant NEDA Board Committees, Cabinet Clusters and other Inter-Agency Committees (IACs) will have primary accountability for the achievement of the PDP outcomes identified for the Chapter(s) under their purview,” the circular read.
“These will be the coordinating mechanisms and will be responsible for ensuring the implementation and monitoring of strategies, policies, programs, and projects, identified in the said chapters,” it added.
NEDA’s Staff will also assist the NEDA Board Committees, newly-created Cabinet Clusters, and other interagency committees in achieving their respective targets.
“The responsible committees, clusters, IAC shall monitor progress in said PDP outcome and outputs,” the circular added.
The PDP overall framework is overseen by the NEDA Board — chaired by President Rodrigo R. Duterte. Demographic trends are handled by the NEDA Board-National Land Use Committee and other regional development committees; the governance provisions are the responsibility of the IAC on Development Administration and the Cabinet Cluster on Participatory Governance.
The NEDA Board’s Social Development Committee will be responsible for targets related to promoting Philippine culture, accelerating human capital development, reducing the vulnerability of families, building safe and secure communities, and reaching for the demographic dividend.
The Cabinet Cluster on Security, Justice, and Peace will oversee targets concerning the fair administration of justice, attaining peace, ensuring security, public order, and safety, while the Cabinet’s Economic Development Cluster will be tasked with achieving a level playing field in industry, as well as attaining goals set for the agriculture, industry, and services sectors.
The Science and Technology Coordinating Council will oversee targets related to advancing innovation; the NEDA Board Infrastructure Committee will seek to meet infrastructure development goals; the NEDA Board’s Development Budget Coordinating Committee is responsible for sound macroeconomic policy; and the Cabinet Cluster on Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation, and Disaster Risk Reduction will ensure ecological integrity and a clean and healthy environment.
Mr. Pernia was quoted in a statement as saying that agencies will “be able to effectively align their work plans with the PDP. We are thus expecting to see better synergy within government so we can truly work as one in achieving our medium-term targets and long-term goals.”
In NEDA’s Socioeconomic Report 2017, the government achieved the 6.5-7.5% economic growth target last year when growth was 6.7%. The 3.8% inflation reading for the year was also within the 2-4% target range.
Missed 2017 targets include 5.1-5.4% unemployment, with the actual rate coming in at 5.7%, and the 900,000-1.1 million net job creation goal, where actual performance was a net job loss of 663,243. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

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