Integration of Plans and Planning
Process
The
implementation of the RPFP will be carried out through the
RDC-NRO network. The specific committee, who will be responsible
for this is the Regional Land Use Committee (RLUC). The
applicable portions and phases of the RPFP become integral part
of the medium-term and short-term planning processes and output
directing the RDC and its member-agencies and local
authorities. This process of plan integration has both vertical
and horizontal dimensions.
Vertical
Integration
Vertical integration is achieved by aligning,
rationalizing or reconciling spatial policies at the
regional level with those of the national level, on the one
hand, and ensuring that provincial, city and municipal
comprehensive land use plans take the RPFP into
consideration, on the other.
Despite efforts to align the RPFP with the NFPP during the
plan preparation stage, it may well be that new issues and
concerns arise at this late stage of the planning process
which cannot be unilaterally resolved by the Region. In
such case, the RDC, on the initiative of the RLUC, should
seek clarification and /or resolution from the NLUC. Once a
resolution is made, a mutual adjustment is then effected
that aligns the two plans.
At the lower level of the hierarchy of plans, Provincial
Physical Framework Plans (PPFPs) and City and Municipal
Comprehensive Land Use Plans (CLUPs) are likewise reconciled
with the RPFP. The vertical integration of lower level land
use plans of provinces, highly urbanized and independent
component cities as provided for under EO 72, Section 2(d);
and through the power of the provincial governments to
review and approve comprehensive land use plans and zoning
ordinances of component cities and municipalities as
mandated by the Local Government Code of 1991.
Horizontal
Integration
Horizontal integration ensures that the RPFP
provides a basis for the medium-term development planning
and annual budgeting by the RDC. With the RPFP in place,
the RDP becomes one of its implementing instruments. All
aspects of the RPFP can be translated into specific aspects
of the RDP. The general objectives of the RPFP are
comprehensive and relevant enough for adoption in the
medium-term plan. The objectives of the RDP as defined by
policies, strategies and targets should be consistent with
the RPFP spatial strategies and sectoral development
policies.
The physical development policies covering the four major
components of the RPFP will similarly serve as the framework
for the formulation of specific sectoral programs and
projects. For example, the regional production land use
strategy can influence the formulation of programs and
projects in the economic or productive sectors. The
regional settlements strategy for its part, provides
guidelines for the social programs and projects and the
location and allocation of support infrastructure. The
regional infrastructure strategy serves as a basis for the
infrastructure support component of the MTRDP which in turn
is translated into the Regional Development Investment
Program (RDIP). The RDIP is finally broken down into the
Annual Investment Program (AIP) which becomes part of the
annual budget.
The environmental management or protection
land use strategy can be a source of sectoral programs and
projects having to do with preservation, conservation,
rehabilitation and protection of vital natural resources.
This will help operationalize the Philippine Agenda 21,
which seeks among other things “to achieve economic growth
with adequate protection of the country’s biological
resources and its diversity, vital ecosystems functions and
over-all environmental quality.
Beyond the requirement that all sectoral
development programs and projects impinging on the natural
ecosystems must incorporate environmental conservation
measures, the environmental management strategy of the RPFP
demands that active conservation and rehabilitation projects
in severely degraded areas be regarded as “development
projects” in their own right. It is time that more projects
of this latter type find their way into the RDP.
Another aspect of horizontal integration
pertains to sectoral plans. Sectoral agencies dealing with
land and other natural resources may formulate and adopt
their own long-term and medium-term plans. Such sectoral
plans must be prepared within the framework of the RPFP.
The sectoral agencies’ plans must be linked to the RPFP
process in two ways: First, the sectoral agencies provide
data and information as input to the formulation or
refinement of regional development goals and objectives in
the RPFP. Second, sectoral agencies implement those
particular components of the RPFP that are within their
functional responsibility through their sectoral programs
and projects. The latter role includes monitoring of
environmental change to furnish feedback information into an
inter-agency resource information system. This resource
information system provides monitoring and feedback data for
future revisions of the RPFP and the formulation of other
development plans.
Replanning and Updating
The
Regional Land Use Committee (RLUC) shall monitor changes in land
use and other physical resources. The NEDA shall be responsible
for the monitoring of changes in the socioeconomic environment.
The
Provincial Land Use Committee (PLUC) and the Provincial
Planning (PPDO), City and the Municipal Development Planning
Offices (MPDO) shall serve as the counterparts at the province,
city and the municipality. The PLUC together with the
Provincial and City Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO/CENRO)
shall monitor environmental change at the provincial level.
Private Organizations and People’s Organizations are encouraged
to participate. Any revision of the medium-term plan that has
spatial or land use implications should be reflected in the
revision of the RPFP.
Executive Order NO. 72 identifies the composition of the PLUC.
It is Chaired by the Provincial Planning and Development
Coordinator (PPDC), Provincial Agriculturist, a representative
of non-government organization that are represented in the
Provincial Development Council (PDC) and representatives from
the following national government agencies as members: Housing
and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Agrarian Reform
(DAR), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of
Public Works and Highways (DPWH)< Department of Tourism (DOT)
and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Plan implementation shall be monitored to facilitate its
updating. The monitoring shall be done on a yearly basis. The
Regional Project Monitoring and Evaluation System (RPMES) shall
be used as the official monitoring report.
Policy review shall be hand-in-hand with the monitoring to be
able to improve the program implementation. Based on the results
of the monitoring, policies needing refinement or revision can
be raised to the proper authorities.
It
is targeted that the RLUC shall perform periodic review of the
physical plans and conduct revision and updating every three
years to coincide with the term of the local government
officials.
