Neda: Philippines set to scale even greater heights

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) is upbeat on the country’s economic prospects in the years ahead, expecting the Philippines to scale even greater heights.

“Neda has gone through ups and downs, following the cycles of our economy that has its booms and busts. What we hope to achieve in the next couple of years is nothing but boom, and that should reflect well on Neda,” Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said during ceremonies marking the agency’s anniversary.

Balisacan expects Neda to gain more maturity and success in the coming decade as it continues to contribute to the country’s economic welfare.

He said that it was high time for the country to assume its rightful “place in this region—a place of greatness, a place of economic success.”

The country grew 6.1 percent in the first semester, hitting the upper end of the government’s 5- to 6-percent growth target for the period.

As Neda celebrates its anniversary, Balisacan said that he recognized the efforts of the agency’s personnel in sustaining the momentum of the Philippine economy.

Neda’s four-month anniversary celebration will culminate on January 24, 40 years after the signing of Presidential Decree No. 107, which was the last in a series of laws that led to the agency’s creation.

Currently, Neda functions as the “independent planning agency of the government,” based on Article XII, Section 9, of the 1987 Constitution.

President Corazon C. Aquino then issued Executive Order 230 on July 22, 1987, reorganizing Neda into two separate and distinct entities—the Neda board and the Neda secretariat.

The Neda board, the country’s highest development planning and policy coordinating body, is chaired by the President, who is assisted by the Economic Planning secretary. The body is composed of various Cabinet members, as well as the president of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, the governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and the deputy governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

The Neda secretariat, on the other hand, is the board’s research and technical support arm headed by the director general serving concurrently as Economic Planning secretary. –Ana G. Roa, Philippine Daily Inquirer