The I-Plan Component of the Regional Project Coordination Office 1 (RPCO1) conducted an orientation on the Enhanced I-PLAN Operations Manual and Capacity Development on Integrating Climate Risk and Resilience into the Provincial Commodity Investment Plan (PCIP) at Hotel Supreme, Baguio City on July 20-22, 2022.

The I-PLAN enhanced operations manual (EOM) introduces new scientific planning tools in the prioritization of Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) funded subprojects and other projects of the government. Aside from socio-economic considerations, the EOM now considers climate risks and vulnerability key hazards like flood, drought, rising sea level, typhoon, landslide, drought, erosion, salt water intrusion, and storm surge.

During the rollout, the participants were introduced to the planners portal which can be accessed at www.daprdp_plannersportal.net where they can easily access data on the aforementioned hazard indices. Through the website, planners can generate maps to aid the planning of government-funded projects and choose the most suitable and less vulnerable sites.

The EOM mobilizes social and environmental safeguards early screening, employ multi-risk factors assessments, consider geologics and animal and plant hazards for modern and climate-smart projects.

After the training, the participants who were from the Provincial Project Management and Implementation Units and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Offices of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, and Pangasinan will have a follow-up workshop in August 2022 for the updating of their provincial investment commodity plans using the new tools in the EOM.

RPCO 1 I-PLAN Component Head, Ms. Doris Joy Garcia shared that the PRDP aims to mainstream the tools in the EOM to become the primary instruments of planners and the future of planning in the government. (Ilocos Region, InfoACE)