THE National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) wants to be renamed as Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDEV) to strengthen its capability to fulfil its expanded role in pushing the country’s socioeconomic development.
During the initial public hearing of the Economy, Planning, and Development Bill in the 19th Congress on Wednesday at the House of Representatives, NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan emphasized the need to elevate the agency’s status to a department.
The measure is the latest iteration of the proposal to reorganize the NEDA into the DEPDEV in pursuit of enhanced policy coherence across the bureaucracy towards achieving the country’s socioeconomic goals.
The bill is also seen to strengthen and streamline the powers and functions of the agency to implement continuing and coordinated policies for national development and ensure that “master plans are coordinated, synergistic, and responsive to emerging issues, as well as consistent with the country’s development priorities, strategies, and long-term vision.”
“Proper planning can only go so far if it is not seamlessly linked with other equally essential steps in the cycle. These steps include budgeting, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, which feed back into the planning exercise. NEDA performs a catalytic role in each step,” Balisacan said.
“The reorganization of NEDA into the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development or DEPDEV would strengthen NEDA’s mandate and give the agency equal footing with other Executive departments, thereby reinforcing such linkages,” Balisacan said during the hearing by the House Joint Committee on Government Reorganization and Economic Affairs.
Furthermore, the bill seeks to promote stronger planning-budgeting linkages and more guided implementation of programs and policies consistent with the country’s development agenda, he added.
Under the bill, DEPDEV will be mandated to issue a planning call directing the government’s planning cycle by prescribing standards, guidelines, as well as compliance and accountability mechanisms.
The DEPDEV will also update the long-term vision as well as national and subnational development plans and work closely with the Department of Budget and Management to ensure the alignment of the annual and multi-year budget appropriations for the implementation of priority programs and projects to attain identified development targets.
In addition, the DEPDEV is tasked to formulate a medium-term national evaluation agenda and oversee the government’s conduct of evaluation studies for its programs and projects. The DEPDEV will also be tasked to implement a capacity-building program on development policy and planning for national and regional government agencies, as well as local government units.
“The reorganization will help ensure that well-crafted plans do not
remain just that and that the policies and projects that the government approves are adequately monitored to check on their
progress and rigorously evaluated to examine their effectiveness in
realizing intended outcomes,” Balisacan said.
NEDA was initially created as the National Economic Council (NEC), under Commonwealth Act No. 2 ratified by the National Assembly on
December 23, 1935. The NEC’s principal mandate was to advise the
national government on the formulation and adoption of a State
economic program based on the policy of national independence.
NEC was eventually established as the NEDA through Presidential Decree 107 issued in 1973, with the primary responsibility of formulating continuing, coordinated and fully integrated social and economic plans and programs. Meanwhile, Executive Order (EO) No. 230 issued in 1987 mandated the NEDA Secretariat to serve as the research and technical arm of the NEDA board, chaired by the President.
“In a fast-changing and increasingly complex world, the institutions
playing a role in our country’s economic governance must evolve to
meet the needs of the times. We hope that Congress will recognize that the reorganization of NEDA into the DEPDEV will help our institution fulfil its mandate to serve the country and bring us closer toward the steady, progressive, and peaceful life that we all aspire for,” Balisacan said.