One of only five regional line agencies and state universities and colleges to receive the 2022 Philippine Population and Development Program (PPDP) Award for WV, the National Economic and Development Authority Regional Office VI (NEDA-VI) was recognized for its strong partnership with the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) in the implementation, coordination, and localization of the PPDP.

Together with the Department of Health (DOH), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and Iloilo State University of Fisheries, Science, and Technology (ISUFST), POPCOM acknowledged NEDA-VI’s significant contribution towards increasing the share of the people of Region VI in the fruits of socioeconomic progress towards resilient individuals, families, and communities.

POPCOM likewise awarded development partners from the local government units. The Province of Antique, Province of Capiz, Bacolod City, Cities of Bago, Cadiz, Sagay, and Talisay in Negros Occidental, Municipalities of Anilao and Batad in Iloilo, Municipality of Malay in Aklan, and Municipalities of Maayon and Pontevedra in Capiz also received the 2022 PPDP Award for having  satisfactorily met POPCOM’s set of requirements in the localization process, such as the presence of a local population structure, policy and advocacy support, allocation of budget to Population and Development Program, including other programmatic accomplishments.

As the online keynote speaker, Undersecretary Lisa Grace S. Bersales, Executive Director of POPCOM, emphasized the need to place population and development programs in the heart of local government. USec. Bersales imparted that POPCOM shall continue to partner with the local population offices that are in the forefront of program implementation and have provided significant milestones in attaining the PPDP objectives despite the challenges of devolution. (MMPamonag/DRD/NEDA-VI)