Gov’t Crafting New PDP Focusing on Rapid Poverty Reduction

The government is crafting a new Philippine Development Plan (PDP) that aims to significantly reduce poverty incidence and mapping out projects to boost development.

“The timeframe, we would like to have a draft of the Plan by the end of December. So that hopefully, early next year, the Cabinet, the NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) Board and the President can sign off on the PDP,” Carlos Bernardo Abad Santos, Asst. Director-General for Policy Planning at the NEDA, said in an interview.

This, as the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has launched Ambisyon Natin 2040 which represents the collective long-term vision and aspirations of the Filipino people for themselves and for the country for the next 25 years. It also serves as a guide in development planning across administrations.

“We are now developing the framework and preparing to engage the whole of government, civil society and the private sector in developing the Plan,” he said on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-NEDA youth forum on the Ambisyon Natin 2040.

Santos said the new PDP will adopt the framework of inclusive growth.

“We had tremendous economic growth over the past six years but unfortunately, we have not have the same success (as other countries) in terms of poverty reduction. We were not able to get our target on poverty reduction,” he added.

On balancing growth opportunities, Santos noted the Plan will identify lagging sectors and poor regions, as it determines causes of inequalities and addressing them.

“You have a little growth in the agriculture sector, in fact there were times that it had negative growth rates. A lot of the poor are in the agriculture sector,” he said.

For his part, ADB Philippines Country Director Richard Bolt said study results of Ambisyon Natin 2040 shall be included in the first Filipino Development Plan, the medium-term Filipino Development Plan under the Duterte administration.

“So the fact that these work is now beginning to see its way into the next development plan is really important,” he said.

The ADB is supporting NEDA’s Ambisyon Natin 2040 initiative. The Bank has helped other countries with similar exercises, including Cambodia and Malaysia.

Further, Santos said economic planners are also mapping out various projects to boost growth and development.

“One important is increasing mobility. A lot of constraints to development are really infrastructure growth. A big frustrate to bringing in foreign direct investment aside from the (foreign ownership) restrictions is infrastructure,” he said.

The NEDA official said the country’s infrastructure development should be aligned with the government’s plan increase in infrastructure spending to 7 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Santos added it is also looking at removing unnecessary regulatory burden that will impact on business, particularly cutting red tape.

“I think very important is regulatory reform. It’s looking at simplification …We have a big chunk of companies should coming in and I’m glad even with without a Plan right now, a lot of the agencies are heading the call,” he added.

Santos said the country can also undertake a “whole-of-government” approach to regulatory management system, noting “there should be coordination among agencies.”

Further, the NEDA official said the country needs to allocate 7 percent of GDP equivalent to PHP1 trillion to adequately fund social programs such as health and education.

“Based on our computation, we need to grow three-fold in terms of per capita income over the next 25 years to achieve our vision – majority of Filipinos will have the matatag, maginhawa at manatag na buhay,” he added.

Ambisyon Natin 2040 envisions the Philippines to be free from hunger and poverty in 2040.

With the right policies, it believes that the Philippines can be nearly a high-income country by 2040. (PNA) JMC/LDV