TACLOBAN CITY – Mayor Cristina Romualdez has been named as the new chair of the Regional Development Council (RDC) by President Rodrigo Duterte.
The President issued the appointment of Romualdez on February 9 who will serve the post until 2019.
“I am surprised with the appointment and happy because Tacloban is an economic hub being the only highly urbanized city in the region. We play a vital role for the development of the region. Everything that happens in Tacloban affects other provinces,” Romualdez said reacting on her appointment.
The city mayor thanked Pres. Duterte for the trust given to her to lead the RDC, region’s highest policy-making body comprising of 60 members mostly from government line agencies.
Asked if her appointment was due to their family’s support when Mr. Duterte ran for the presidency, the city mayor believes otherwise.
“The President is a fair and just person (and) that he believes that Tacloban is the regional hub for Eastern Visayas,” Romualdez said.
The Romualdezes and the Marcoses threw their support to Mr. Duterte when he ran for President in 2016.
Romualdez is to succeed Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla as RDC chair, a post that was once occupied by her father-in-law, former mayor Alfredo “Bejo” Romualdez from 1998 to 2001.
Speaking to reporters, Romualdez outlined her priorities for regional development – tourism, rural infrastructure, and job generation.
“Tacloban is interconnected to other provinces. We’re lucky to be progressive and we want to bring this development to Samar provinces,” she said.
She was referring to the high poverty incidence of the three Samar provinces which due to, among others, poor road network and lack of investors.
The appointment of Romualdez is timely considering the finalization of 2017-2022 Regional Development Plan and preparations of 2018 budget proposals, Bonifacio Uy, regional director of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), which serves as the secretariat of the body, said.
“The appointment again affirms the fact that Eastern Visayas is a priority of President Duterte because we are one of the regions having appointed RDC chairperson than most RDCs,” he said.
Bonifacio formally informed Romualdez of her appointment on Wednesday (Feb.15), giving her the copy of her appointment signed by the President.
During the RDC meeting last August 31, 2016, the members also nominated Petilla, Samar Gov. Sharee Ann Tan and Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez for the chairmanship.
Out of 18 RDCs in the country, only five have newly-appointed chairpersons – Region 4-B, Region 10, Region 3, Region 12, and Region 8.
Romualdez will preside this year’s first quarterly meeting on March 22 at the NEDA regional office.
Aside from presiding over the council’s meetings, Romualdez is also in position to direct members and heads of regional line agencies to perform tasks the council may deem necessary, direct the formulation of a comprehensive regional development plan and preparation of a system of investment programming for the region.
She is also expected to supervise the monitoring of the implementation of major inter-provincial and region-wide development programs, and represent the region in Cabinet meetings and other activities at the national level.
The body serves as the counterpart of the NEDA Board at the subnational level. The RDC is the primary institution that coordinates and sets the direction of all economic and social development efforts in the region. It also serves as a forum where local efforts can be related and integrated with national development activities.
