Neda unveils 6-year dev’t plan for Eastern Visayas

Eastern Visayas map. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

TACLOBAN CITY — The National Economic Development Authority (Neda) in Eastern Visayas recently unveiled its six-year development plan with big-ticket projects identified.

These multi-billion projects were expected to uplift the economic condition of the region, home to more than 4 million people with a poverty incidence of 28.9 percent as of 2021.

Based on the 2023-2028 Eastern Visayas Regional Development Plan, several big-ticket projects have been identified which were seen to boost the economy of the region and benefit its poor people.

“Call it ambitious but we need to be ambitious for us to strive more and achieve the goal. We should not be content with what we have and we should end our long-time romance with poverty” said Meylene Rosales, the Neda regional director, in an interview after the launch held at Summit Hotel in Tacloban City.

“Of course, we have to improve our economy for us to create more jobs, decent jobs,” she added.

The six-year implementation of the regional development plan expects an 8.5- percent economic growth from 6.8 percent in 2021.

The number of unemployed is also expected to go down to 5.2 percent by the end of the program. At present, the region has a 6.6 percent unemployment rate.

Key sectors like agriculture, tourism, and infrastructure were also provided with projects to keep up with the goal.

In agriculture, the regional development plan intends to construct more farm-to-market roads with a budgetary allocation of P17.2 billion; and support farmers in terms of equipment and facilities in the amount of P7.06 billion and irrigation system with an estimated allocation of P200 million, among others.

In tourism, the regional development plan eyes P3.2 billion to improve and upgrade various tourism sites of Eastern Visayas.

Infrastructure, which has higher allocations, among the identified projects, includes P1.5 trillion to upgrade and expand roads and bridges.

This includes the second phase of the South Samar Coastal Road Project in Northern Samar involving P7.35 billion; the construction of a new San Juanico Bridge at P9.17 billion; the rehabilitation of the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport, the regional airport based in Tacloban at P4 billion; and the construction of a P200-million Eastern Visayas railway system, among others.

Rey Gozon, the assistant regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, said they were happy that several projects had been identified in the fight against climate change and natural disasters.

This includes the construction and upgrading of evacuation centers for P1.5 billion; improvement and upgrading of waste management and sewerage system and P5.9 billion urban development and public housing projects.

“These (identified projects) will help us mitigate the impacts of natural disasters and in our campaign to be resilient. Based on our Yolanda experience, all of us started from scratch,” Gozon said, in reference to the impacts the region experienced after Eastern Visayas was pummeled by Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

Rosales said they hoped these projects would be given the needed budget by the national government under President Marcos.

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