The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening coordination between regional and national government agencies to ensure a coherent, inclusive, and results-driven development during the Regional-National Investment Programming (RNIP) Dialogue held on Wednesday (November 26).
This marks the first RNIP Dialogue since DEPDev’s transition from the National Economic and Development Authority, following the enactment of the Economy, Planning, and Development Act (Republic Act No. 12145).
DEPDev Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan underscored that this landmark reform institutionalizes DEPDev’s mandate in investment programming and expands the role of Regional Development Councils (RDC) in shaping the national budget.
“This new charter empowers our Regional Offices to take a more proactive role in aligning regional priorities with national strategies. By reinforcing the linkages among planning, budgeting, monitoring, and evaluation, we ensure that development efforts are coherent, inclusive, and results-driven,” he explained.
The RNIP Dialogue serves as a critical platform among government agencies to align regional and national development priorities, ensure that regional projects are reflected in the national budget, and strengthen the readiness and transparency of priority programs and projects.
It also provides a forum to refine project inclusion criteria, endorse priority regional projects as Agency Regional-National Investment Projects (ARNIP), and identify proposals requiring feasibility study support. This year’s event brought together DEPDev Regional Offices, RDCs—including the newly created Negros Island Region (NIR)—and officials from 13 national government agencies.
DEPDev Undersecretary Carlos Bernardo O. Abad Santos, who heads the DEPDev Regional Development Group, highlighted the agency’s efforts to make the RNIP process more responsive, ensuring that planning and budgeting remain tightly linked.
“For this RNIP Dialogue, we further refined our prioritization criteria to emphasize project readiness. These enhancements build on previous gains and strengthen the chances of regional priorities securing budget allocations,” he said.
To wrap up the discussions, Balisacan reaffirmed the government’s collective resolve to push forward ongoing reforms in investment programming and the national budgeting process.
“Our objective remains clear: to institutionalize a robust process for identifying priority regional programs and projects, and to ensure that these receive adequate budget support for timely and meaningful implementation,” he said.
Building on this point, he underscored DEPDev’s readiness to guide and coordinate efforts that advance the development and prosperity of regions across the Philippines. “As we advance, DEPDev stands ready to provide guidance and coordination. But the success of this work ultimately rests on the sustained collaboration among our line agencies, regional partners, and oversight institutions,” Balisacan added.
Looking ahead, the Secretary noted that the outcomes of the RNIP Dialogue would be conveyed to the Office of the President, which has continued to show its support for RDCs.
In April last year, the RDC Chairpersons and DEPDev (then-NEDA) met with President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to discuss various regional development initiatives aligned with the strategies contained in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 and Regional Development Plans.
Since its inception in 2023, the RNIP process has systematically linked Regional Development Investment Programs (RDIP) with the Public Investment Program (PIP), harmonizing national, sectoral, and regional targets for 2023 to 2028.
The PIP outlines the national government’s priority programs and projects, while the RDIPs capture the key development priorities of each region, ensuring that regional needs are reflected in national planning. The PIP and RDIPs, in turn, are linked to the budget or the National Expenditure Program through the investment programming cycle, where priority projects identified through the RNIP process help shape government agencies’ submissions to the Department of Budget and Management.
The first two dialogues yielded significant results: 66 percent of ARNIPs for FY 2025 and 90 percent for FY 2026 were integrated into the Updated PIP 2023-2028, with nearly half of FY 2025 projects included in the General Appropriations Act.
Apart from DEPDev officials, Secretaries Juan Edgardo M. Angara (Education), Sharon S. Garin (Energy), Raphael P.M. Lotilla (Environment and Natural Resources), Renato U. Solidum Jr. (Science and Technology), OIC-Secretary Rolando U. Toledo (Budget and Management); Assistant Secretary June Vincent Manuel Gaudan (Information and Communications Technology); chairpersons of Regional Development Councils; and other officials from various agencies, stakeholders, and local government officials attended this year’s dialogue.
