The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDeV) is the primary policy, planning, coordinating, and monitoring arm of the Executive Branch of government on the national economy. The first major thrust of the government-wide reorganization effected through Presidential Decree (P.D.) No. 1 issued on 24 September 1972, otherwise known as the Integrated Reorganization Plan (IRP), was the provision for an integrated organizational complex for development planning and program implementation to correct the deficiencies of the system then existing. The IRP identified these deficiencies as: (1) the dispersal of planning functions among several economic planning bodies and ad hoc councils; (2) the lack of effective coordination among economic bodies; (3) the weak link between plan formulation and program ex*****on; (4) the need to improve the capacity for sectoral and regional planning. After the ratification of the 1973 Constitution on 17 January 1973, P.D. 107, dated January 24, 1973, was promulgated creating the National Economic and Development Authority (now, with the conjunction “and”) as mandated in the 1973 Constitution. The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) created earlier under the IRP pursuant to P. No. 1 was made the nucleus of, and absorbed by, the new National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). In 1974, the NEDA Regional Office VI was established in Iloilo City – the regional center of Western Visayas or Region VI. Alex Guay Umadhay was the first Regional Director until he retired in 1992. The present office of NEDA VI, located at Fort San Pedro, Iloilo City, was constructed in 1978. On 12 March 1986, after the February 1986 revolution, Executive Order (EO) No. 5 was issued by then President Corazon C. Aquino, directing a government-wide reorganization to promote economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of public services. On 22 July 1987 Executive Order No. 230 was issued reorganizing the NEDA. Implementation of this EO was completed on 16 February 1988 when the NEDA commenced operations under its reorganized setup. President Marcos signed Republic Act No. 12145 on April 10, 2025 creating the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDev). RA 12145 transforms the state’s main socioeconomic planning agency into a full-fledged executive department. The DEPDev shall operate with institutional independence by generating and providing impartial, objective, and evidence-based analyses and recommendations to national and local government agencies.
