Undersecretary Jose Miguel R. De La Rosa of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Central Support Office (CSO) met with the NEDA Regional Office (NRO) VIII officials and staff on 7 September 2017. Said meeting was aimed at strengthening the partnership between the CSO and NRO VIII.

Usec. De La Rosa said that with the systems and qualified people already in place in NEDA, the agency will continue to be one of the highly regarded agencies in the country. He said this warrants the need to sustain operational improvements in order to address the gaps and ensure continued human resource competency, development, and enhancement. He also emphasized that NEDA Central Office and NROs are a “family” and therefore should continue to work together in unity through strengthened partnership and coordination. This is necessary to better fulfill NEDA’s mandate as the premier socioeconomic planning agency in the country.

The highlight of the consultation meeting was the lively and open discussions between the CSO officials and NRO VIII personnel on significant legal, administrative, financial, planning, development information, and information and communications technology matters. This led to a common understanding of NEDA operations along those areas. NRO VIII officials and staff then shared their issues and concerns, which were duly answered and noted by the CSO officials for consideration in improvements to be made after all consultation meetings with all NROs shall have been completed by the CSO.

NRO VIII Regional Director Bonifacio G. Uy expressed his sincerest thanks to the officials and staff of NEDA Central Office for their generous assistance and quick response to NRO VIII needs, especially in trying times after disasters hit the region.

Usec De La Rosa was accompanied by Director Nerrisa T. Esguerra and staff Clarissa Escasinas of the Development Information Staff; Director Danilo D. Barrameda and Division Chief (DC) Flora Sherry Basquinez-Samaniego of the Legal Staff; Director Ma. Monica P. Pagunsan, Human Resource Management DC Myra I. dela Cruz, and Budget DC Susanna D. Santos of the Administrative Staff; and Director Florante G. Igtiben and staff Emerson T. Ochoa of the Information and Communications Technology Staff.