The Regional Project Monitoring Committee (RPMC) IX conducted three orientation activities on the Regional Project Monitoring and Evaluation System (RPMES), Local Project Monitoring Committee (LPMC) Functionality Tool and Innovative Platform for Programs/Projects/ Activities’ (PPAs) Location Assessment, Monitoring, and Budgeting for Development Planning and Governance (IPALAMDAG) System for the LPMCs in the region. The activities were held at Hotel Guillermo, Pagadian City on September 12, 2022 for Zamboanga del Sur LPMCs; at Top Plaza Hotel, Dipolog on September 14, 2022 for Zamboanga del Norte LPMCs; and at Cecille’s Pension House and Catering Services, Ipil on September 16, 2022 for Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga City and Isabela City LPMCs.
The activity aims to strengthen the LPMCs and make them more responsive in terms of adhering to the mandates of the RPMES. The expected results of the activity were to make LPMCs active and well-founded, organized and structurally linked vertically or horizontally, and with well-informed and committed members.
The RPMES was institutionalized as the primary mechanism for the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of programs and projects by virtue of Executive Order No. 376 issued on November 2, 1989 and Executive Order No. 93 issued on June 1, 1993. The RPMES has been instrumental in facilitating project implementation, undertaking problem-solving sessions, and enhancing M&E capacities of various stakeholders.
The change in the political leadership as well as the composition of the monitoring committees at the local levels require regular orientation to improve the LPMC’s capacity and to strengthen vertical linkages with other higher Project Monitoring Committees (PMCs), i.e., Provincial PMC and Regional PMC.
The IPALAMDAG System is an on-going system development project of NEDA X which aims to enhance regional planning preparation in strengthening the linkages of the investment programming, budgeting, and project monitoring by integrating and storing the datasets in a relational database management platform. It would also assist the regional line agencies and other implementers such as government owned and controlled corporations and state universities and colleges in the region in systematizing, managing, monitoring, and evaluating the progress of their respective projects. IPA-LAMDAG is a Visayan word which means “to enlighten”. The system now caters all NEDA regional offices in Mindanao. For Region IX, it is expected to be up and running online by the third quarter of 2022.
The LPMC Functionality Assessment Tool was developed by RPMC IV-A that could determine the extent on how active the LPMCs were in terms of their functionality. Among the indicators included in the said tool are the following: (a) Organization; (b) Training; (c) Planning; and (d) Implementation and Reporting. The Construction Safety and Health Program in Project Implementation was also presented and discussed by DOLE IX during the orientations.
A total of 101 participants from 65 municipalities, 5 cities and 3 provinces of Zamboanga Peninsula participated on the said orientation. Majority of the participants were the municipal planning and development coordinators and staff from the provincial/city/ municipal planning and development offices being the Secretariat of the LPMCs. The representatives of the Governors from the three provinces graced the events on their behalf. (Garyl Jay N. Pepito, NEDA IX)
