THE proposed Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 of the National Economic and Development Authority will get the needed legislative boost from the Senate, Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III vowed Friday.
Pimentel said he would strongly support the administration’s development roadmap as it “concretizes the Duterte administration’s eight-point economic agenda.”
He also expressed active support for part of the plan that puts emphasis on the development of regional centers including his hometown, Cagayan de Oro City.
The plan indicates that the new impetus for regional growth is set to make CDO the country’s fourth economic center, and the second in Mindanao, after Manila, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao.
Pimentel said the plan could not have come at a better time as Congress prepares to tackle the proposed shift in the form of government to a federal system.
He vowed to make the approval of this shift a top priority as it would decentralize the current centralized system and would empower the regions with greater autonomy and more resources.
The shift to a federal system would also fit the proposed Mindanao Railway that could enhance further CDO’s economic growth.
“Mindanao’s promise would finally be realized as major investors would flock to take advantage of the bullish economy,” Pimentel said.