WHEREAS, it is the established national policy to pursue vigorously the goal of regional development as a means to achieve economic growth, social justice and an equitable distribution of income within and among regions;

WHEREAS, under PD 1, LOI 542, LOI 542-A and PD 1200, the framework for regional planning, and its relationship to the national planning process has been set down and has led to the formulation, by each region, of their development plans;

WHEREAS, there is an urgent need to translate regional plans into concrete packages of programs and projects in the form of an investment program which systematically consolidates and integrates the development projects to be undertaken by national agencies, local government, other government regional entities and the private sector in the regions;

WHEREAS, there is need for a coherent set of guidelines for determining budgeting allocations to the various regions based on development programs and project priorities;

WHEREAS, a prototype development investment program which has been completed for the Central Visayas Region (Region VII) has provided a viable scheme in effective efficiency in resource and financial allocation as well as in promoting popular participation in the identification, selection and development of projects for implementation that have to be replicated in other regions, giving the regard to varying regional needs and circumstances.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order:

Section 1. An investment program hereinafter referred to as the Regional Development Investment Program or RDIP shall be adopted, initially for Central Visayas (Region VII) and subsequently for all the other regions whenever appropriate and as experience warrants it, as the implementing program of the five-year regional development plan through the identification and development of programs and projects designed to substantiate the objectives and strategies of accelerating regional development.

Section 2. The RDIP shall serve as the primary basis for public sector resource allocation in the regions. Accordingly, all development activities pertaining to project development and implementation of the national government, local governments, government-owned and controlled corporations and other government develop-authorities in the regions shall be guided by and be consistently aligned with the RDIP subject to recent orders, rules and regulations directing the implementation of economic measures in government in the light of the international energy crisis.

Section 3. The preparation of the RDIP shall be the responsibility of the Regional Development Council. It shall be formulated in all the regions by the coordinated participation of regional offices and staffs of the various ministries with the coordinative supervision of and technical assistance of the regional offices of the National Economic and Development Authority.

Section 4. The formulation of the RDIP shall adopt the Integrated Area Development (IAD) approach to ensure complementation and coordination among programs and projects. It shall include identified, consolidated and reconciled programs and projects to be undertaken by national line agencies, local government units, government-owned and controlled corporations and other government development authorities and, to a considerable degree, those that can be directly undertaken by the private sector in a region.

Section 5. The formulation, adoption and implementation of the RDIP shall be subsumed within the existing planning, budgeting and implementing machinery in accordance with the procedures of the regional and national development planning, implementing and financial allocation process. Upon approval by the NEDA Board, the RDIP shall be subject to regular and periodic review by NEDA and the respective Regional Development Councils to keep the RDIP responsive to development changes affecting the region.

Section 6. The Minister of Economic Planning as Director-General of the NEDA shall be empowered to promulgate rules and regulations, issue circulars and orders at the national and regional levels relevant to the formulation, implementation and review processes of the RDIP in all the regions.

Section 7. This Order shall take effect immediately upon issuance.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 17th day of April, in the Year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty.


By the President:

(SGD.) JACOBO C. CLAVE
Presidential Executive Assistant