Regional Development Council (RDC-7) chair Gov. Edgar Chatto and three other Central Visayas governors would address one critical demand of development today---a resilient road and infrastructure reform---with overseas support. The Bohol leader and his Cebu, Negros Oriental and Siquijor counterparts inked a memorandum of agreement and launched the Coordinating Roads and Infrastructure Investments for Development (CR+ID) Project at the Harolds Hotel in Cebu City on Wednesday. The project is facilitated by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and supported by the Australian Aid – The Asia Foundation (TAF) partnership in the Philippines thru the Coalition for Change (CFC) Program, all signatories to the agreement, too. Heeding the call for broader engagement, sustained growth and inclusive development, the CFC works on the CR+ID program with the provincial governments, national agencies and private sector to introduce and sustain reform in road and infrastructure investments.

The NEDA Regional Office highlighted the importance of investment in infrastructure, especially on transportation in the updated Central Visayas Regional Development Plan (CVRDP) for 2014-2016. Chatto reported that this year, the Australian government and TAF agreed on the CR+ID as an expanded version of the CRID or Coordinating Road Investments for Development, this time to include not only roads but key infrastructure with disaster risk and hazard identification. The CR+ID expands not just thematically but also geographically to include all provinces in Regions 7 and 8, as well as three provinces in Region 6. Chatto sealed the agreement together with TAF Deputy Country Representative Ky Johnson, NEDA Regional Director Efren Carreon, Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale on behalf of Gov. Hilario Davide III, Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo and Siquijor Gov. Zaldy Villa. Australian Embassy Deputy Head of Mission David Dutton and NEDA Assistant Regional Director Ruth Paul Cruz witnessed the signing. The CR+ID is a successor to the CRID, which has been implemented over the last two years in five provinces, namely, Bohol, Cebu, Guimaras, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur. Since July in 2012, the CRID in the above provinces, except for Surigao del Sur, have been led by private sector partners, notably the commerce and industry chambers. The CRID has gone to show a convincing example of how the private sector, with civil society and government, can work together to improve the way road investments are done at provincial level. The Australian government and TAF cited the CRID templates in Bohol and Surigao del Norte, saying what began in these provinces have been proven working also in Guimaras, Cebu and Surigao del Sur.

The project coordinates and rationalizes road investments through the use of value chain analysis (VCA) in identifying strategic road links (SRLs), which are interconnected roads most often used in transporting gods, services and people. The SRLs have proved to be a useful “road investment registry” where national line agencies and local governments with funding could consider for their respective budgets given the various mandates and priorities. The CR+ID works on private sector-local government partnership with support from national agencies to mobilize resources and funding for priority road networks, which are vital to the local economy. The Australian support enables the TAF to assist the provinces in completing their road network maps and databases of key infrastructure, industries and disaster vulnerable areas, identifying strategic roads and infrastructure investments, and capacitating municipal-level road investment planning. According to Chatto, the CR+ID likewise works to strengthen the RDC for a broader participation of businesses and local governments in the realm of investment programming. Because the project is introduced to additional provincial stakeholders, more possibilities are explored for regional level coordination on roads and investments in Central Visayas, the RDC chairman said. With the CR+ID, the NEDA has expected better investment programming, highly-capacitated institutions at the local level, and projects responsive to local development needs and regional growth drivers. (Ven C. Arigo)