Mayor to head Visayas body

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama assured he will be fair and reasonable when pushing for projects for different local governments in the Visayas, as head of the Regional Development Committee (RDCom).

He said he also wants to introduce Cebu City’s programs on solid waste management and peace and order to the provinces and cities in the three Visayas regions.

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“One of the things we can contribute is to show them our best practices so these may be replicated in all the regions. Some of the mayors already said that they want to implement our best practices in solid waste management and peace and order,” Rama said in a phone interview yesterday.

As chairman of the RDCom-Visayas, the mayor will represent the Visayas in the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board, where he will sit as a member along with several Cabinet secretaries and representatives from the private sector.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia previously held this position, after being appointed in April 2008 by then president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

In identifying projects and sourcing funds for the Visayas, Rama said his role would be to consolidate the requests from the different regions and submit these to the Neda Board.

“I will always have to think about being fair and reasonable because I believe they (governors and mayors) all know me and they know I am fair, that is why they chose me to represent them,” the mayor said.

In a meeting yesterday, mayors and governors from Central, Western and Eastern Visayas arrived at a consensus to have Rama represent them in the Neda Board.

Rama was just recently appointed by President Benigno Aquino III as Regional Development Council (RDC) 7 chairman.

Former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo created last Dec. 15, 2003 one RDCOM each for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and placed them under the Neda Board.

The Neda Board is composed of several government offices and agencies, including the Office of the President, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The RDCom-Visayas is composed of Gov. Vic Tanco and Ma. Luisa Segovia, chair and co-chair, respectively of RDC 6; Rama and Argeo Melissimo, chair and co-chair of RDC 7; and Gov. Jericho Petilla and F. Morales, chair and co-chair of RDC 8.

Melissimo said they picked Rama because Cebu is the fastest-growing area in the Visayas.

“The RDCom role is monitoring and implementing the policy of the administration. This will also serve as a clearing house for fund allocations in every region. It will monitor policies that promote collective growth, and help areas which lag behind in the economy,” Melissimo said.

Melissimo cited as example the One Visayas Tourism forum. Updates on the interconnection of power supply in the Visayas regions may also come up in the RDCom.