(Davao City, 09 September 2020). The Davao Regional Project Monitoring Committee (RPMC XI), spearheaded by its Chairperson and NEDA XI Regional Director Maria Lourdes D. Lim, CESO II, convened for its 3rd Quarter CY 2020 Meeting through videoconference on September 9, 2020.

Given the current state of public health emergency with its quarantine protocols, the Committee endorsed, for the Regional Development Council (RDC) XI’s approval, the conduct of online videoconferencing as an alternative approach to the conduct of field monitoring activities to validate and assess the implementation status of development programs and projects in Davao Region.

This alternative approach, implemented/tested by the RPMC XI Monitoring Team in the 3rd Quarter, was noted to protect the Team, Project Staff of the Implementing Entity and Project Stakeholders from possible exposure to CoViD-19, as well as, respond to the control measures limiting exposure of construction workers being implemented at construction sites per safety guidelines of implementing agencies (i.e. Department of Public Works and Highways Department Order 39, series of 2020).

The Committee found the alternative method to satisfy the requirements for vetting of project implementation status per the Regional Project Monitoring Evaluation System (RPMES) Operational Guidelines (2015) and recommended additional procedures such as the conduct of virtual interviews with those involved and affected by project implementation and submission of real-time drone shots or a time and date stamped photo-documentation and video shots stamped with time and coordinates to support the reported accomplishment, among others.

Moreover, the Committee also endorsed to RDC XI the conduct of a 2-day Regional Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Forum on October 8-9, 2020 through link-only access live streaming via Zoom and the RDC XI Youtube channel.

The activity aims to level off participant’s understanding on the processes, roles and responsibilities as provided for in the RPMES Operational Guidelines specifically on evaluation, as well as, the Davao Region Development Plan (DRDP), 2017-2022 Midterm Update Development Framework and Regional Results Matrices (DRRM) and M&E Framework, and Cluster Objectively Verifiable Indicators (OVIs) for the Implementation of the Joint National/Regional Task Force Executive Order 70 Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) Plan for Davao Region.

The forum also seeks to strengthen the coordination between the RDC/RPMC XI and Local PMCs (down to the Municipal/City level) and Implementing Agencies/Entities in the conduct of M&E activities in the Region. Expected participants are Heads of the Monitoring Units, designated principal and alternate staff for the preparation and submission of quarterly monitoring reports of National Government Agencies, Government Owned and Controlled Corporations, State Universities and Colleges, Water Districts, Electric Cooperatives, monitoring units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police down to the Provincial/City level and all members of the LPMCs down to the Municipal and City PMCs.

Also covered in the meeting were discussions on the reprioritized list of projects for Field Monitoring for CY 2020, RPMC XI 3rd Quarter Project Monitoring Report and the RPMC XI 3rd Quarter CY 2020 Field Monitoring Report which covered the DPWH XI’s Davao City Coastal Bypass Road Project, Apo Agua Infrastuctura, Inc.’s joint venture with the Davao City Water District, the Davao City Bulk Water Supply Project and the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority’s Davao Fish Port Project.