December 1, 2014

The Luzon B Program Support Office (PSO) is the first cluster out of Mindanao with No Objection Letter (NOL) 1 for its first set of sub-projects (SPs) by October 2014. The news was announced by Luzon B Director Shandy M. Hubilla during the Luzon B (South Luzon) Year-End Assessment and Planning held on November 25-28, 2014 at the Citystate Asturias Hotel in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

Out of the country’s 17 administrative regions, Regions IV-A, IV-B and V are ahead in terms of clusterwide outputs with 13 value chain analysis (VCA), three of which with NOL 1 issuances, 16 Provincial Commodity Investment Plans (PCIPs), six of which were now endorsed to the National Program Coordination Office (NPCO), and a total of 14 Intensified Building-Up of Infrastructure and Logistics for Development (I-BUILD) SPs worth P1, 286,654,378.47 to be implemented under the 2014 budget. Also, Luzon B has five I-REAP SPs with a total cost of P69,995,797.94 to be implemented in 2015.

“This is just year 1. What we are doing is process assessment to address issues prevalent across the region. This is a process that we want—no holds barred for us to improve the process in the next five years,” Hubilla said.

The organization’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of structure, coordination, communication, processes, resources, relationships, responsibilities, and decision-making were assessed during the said activity. Among the common issues and concerns raised by the Regional Program Coordination Office (RPCO) to the Provincial Program Management and Implementation Units (PPMIUs) were the overlapping roles, observance of communication protocols, and adherence to timelines in submitting the required documents. On the other hand, the PPMIUs aired their concerns regarding inadequate orientation on the Operations Manual, limited manpower complement to provide technical assistance and review their documents prior to Regional Program Advisory Board (RPAB) approval, and conflicting schedule of activities and submission deadlines among various PRDP units.

The year-end assessment and planning also highlights good practices including proper identification of needed support and intervention by the different sectors as a result of VCA and PCIP preparation, extensive consultation with concerned agencies and stakeholders, and good working relationship and collaboration among provinces.

“The process is more important. Yung good i-replicate, yung bad, iwan na this year,” Hubilla stated. He also acknowledged the effective teamwork, coaching, and mentoring among the PSO, RPCO, and PPMIU. “I want South Luzon to be known for harmonious, win-win relationship,” he added.

With the goals of NOL 2 and Notice to Proceed (NTP) issuances for 2014 SPs before summer next year, Hubilla plans to establish an effective tracking system, promote the observance of proper communication and coordination protocols, and intensify hiring of full-time PRDP staff to improve the cluster’s system of output delivery. “We will try our very best, just stay heads up,” he underscored.

Among South Luzon’s first quarter 2015 activities are the 1st World Bank Supervision Mission in Region IV-B, business planning training and workshop for the next batch of provincial local government units (PLGUs) and proponent groups (PGs), and conduct of Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation (RBME) training. (Annielyn L. Baleza, I-SUPPORT InfoACE Unit, DA-RAFID 5