Gov’t to review medium-term dev’t plan

Manila, Philippines – The Aquino administration is set to review the country’s medium-term development plan next year to incorporate mitigation measures against disasters and external shocks, Socioeoconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan yesterday said.

“The Philippine Development Plan (PDP) is up for review next year. We will be looking at the experiences in the first half of the administration,” Balisacan said during the hearing at the Senate for the government’s proposed P2.006-trillion budget for 2013.

He said that as part of the review, the government could reverse some of the programs that are now working and improve on those that have been proven successful.

Balisacan was responding to questions raised by Senator Edgardo Angara on whether or not the government plans to come up with an in-depth comprehensive plan for flood-control and disaster mitigation.

“It has to be an in-depth plan and we should start the planning right now,” Angara said.

Last week, torrential rains battered Metro Manila and many parts of the country, leaving numerous roads and low-lying areas flooded.

The death toll from the killer floods has already reached 92 as of press time, according to National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Balisacan said the review would take into account not just disasters and calamities but external shocks such as the looming food crisis in the United States and the debt crisis in Europe.

In reviewing the PDP for 2011 to 2016, the government will focus on its “war against poverty” and would promote a culture of competitiveness “accompanied by the generation of skilled and decent jobs in all productive economic sectors particularly industry, agriculture and services shall be developed alongside the promotion of good labor-management practices,” Baliscan also said.

The PDP has a goal to create six million jobs from 2011 to 2016 or an average of one million jobs per year. Bulk of the jobs will come from industry and services and the rest from micro, small and medium enterprises.

Balisacan said the review would be concluded before July 2013. -Iris C. Gonzales (The Philippine Star)