Philippines: Updated development plan to be more responsive to disaster risks and climate change

A press release from the National Economic and Development Authority

The updated Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2011-2016 will include refinements that will be more responsive to disaster risks and climate change, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano W. Paderanga, Jr. said that the comments, suggestions and proposals generated in a recent multistakeholder consultation on disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) shall serve as inputs in updating the Plan.

“The recent flooding in Northern Mindanao brought by typhoon Sendong and the 6.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Negros Oriental remind us that natural disasters can occur anytime and that the country needs to prepare to adequately mitigate their adverse effects,” said Paderanga during the consultation led by Senator Loren Legarda.

Paderanga, who is also the NEDA Director-General and chair of the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD), said the updated PDP will take into account the priorities and strategies in the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP) and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan (NDRRMP). Issues and comments raised during the consultation include enhancing the overall vision of the Plan to incorporate green and sustainable development, ecological integrity, environmental preservation, disaster risk-resilience and mainstreaming DRR, and climate CCA into the national budget.

At the consultation, NEDA Deputy Director General for Planning Margarita R. Songco presented how DRR and CCA were mainstreamed in the ten chapters of the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016. She said that DRR and CCA were one of the crosscutting concerns identified during the preparation of the guidelines in the formulation of the Plan, which was issued in October 2010.

On the other hand, NEDA Assistant Director General for Regional Development Marcelina E. Bacani said NEDA is providing technical assistance in mainstreaming DRR and CCA into provincial development and physical framework plans. She added that a reference manual for mainstreaming DRR and CCA into comprehensive land use plans (CLUP) will also be submitted to House and Land Use Regulatory Board for incorporation in the CLUP guidelines.