(Mati City, Davao Oriental). The Regional Development Council (RDC) XI convened for its 2023 1st Quarter Full Council Meeting on March 24, 2023 at Don Paco Rocamora Golf Clubhouse, Mati Aero Tourism Park, City of Mati, Davao Oriental. The said meeting was presided over by RDC XI Chairperson and Davao Oriental Governor Corazon Malanyaon. Also in attendance were Davao Oriental’s First and Second Congressional District Representatives, Cong. Nelson Dayanghirang and Cong. Cheeno Miguel Almario, respectively, Davao del Norte Governor Edwin Jubahib, Davao de Oro Governor Dorothy Gonzaga, Davao Occidental Board Member Brett Bautista, DBM Assistant Secretary and Functional Group Head for Organization and Systems Improvement, Asec. Achilles Gerard Bravo, and Presidential Assistant for Eastern Mindanao, Sec. Leo Tereso Magno.
The Council approved RDC XI Executive Committee Resolution No. 1, series of 2023, “Recommending the Inclusion of the Presidential Assistant for Eastern Mindanao as Special Member of the RDC XI for the Term 2023-2025,” to better facilitate Presidential actions on concerns affecting Davao Region, as well as, strengthen the RDC XI as a convergence and coordination mechanism between the Region’s Local Government Units and the National Government.
The RDC XI Accomplishment Report for Calendar Year (CY) 2022 was also approved during the meeting. Highlighted in the said Report were significant milestones achieved in Davao Region as the RDC transitioned to the new Administration. These include the improved competitiveness of various local government units within the Region, the signing into Law of the Metropolitan Davao Development Authority (MDDA) Charter, and the dismantling of the decades-long CPP-NPA-NDF stronghold in Davao Region, which led to the declaration of the whole Region as insurgeny-free in October 2022. The report likewise highlighted the completion of the Council’s reorganization, including the appointment of the RDC XI Chairperson and Co-Chairperson for the term, 2022-2025, within the year of assumption of the new Administration, and the formulation of the Davao Regional Development Plan, 2023-2028, along with its Results Matrices, Regional Development Investment Program, and Development Research Agenda.
Other substantive matters that were acted upon by the Council include the Davao Regional Development Report for calendar year (CY) 2022, budget cover for the participation of the RDC XI Private Sector Representatives (PSRs) in the 2023 RDC-PSRs National Convention to be held in Iloilo City on April 26-28, 2023, the RDC XI Agenda Forecast and Calendar of Meetings for the current year, updates on the Samal Island-Davao Connector (SIDC) Project, legislative proposals on the expansion of Davao Light and Power Company’s franchise area in some towns and cities in Davao del Norte, inclusion of the Davao International Airport Development Project, the Mati Airport Development Project, and the Davao City Waste-to-Energy Project among the National Government’s Infrastructure Flagship Projects (IFPs), and the Resolutions of Endorsement that were passed by the RDC XI Expanded Executive Committee, pertaining to the FY 2024 budget proposals of agency regional offices, state universities and colleges, and government-owned and controlled corporations in the Region, which were reviewed on February 20-24, 2023.