MALACAÑANG APPOINTS GATO AS RDC CHAIR
by Malu Barsana Fabia
National Economic and Development Authority

Gov. Gato

“Let my present post in the Council serve as a symbol of my deeper and more responsive involvement to regional development.”

So said Governor Vicente de Sagon Gato during the 83rd Regular Regional Development Council (RDC) Meeting at Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, after he took his oath before Governor Luisa Lloren-Cuaresma as the Acting Chair of the Regional Development Council 2.

Gato’s appointment dated 11 October 2004 by Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is a welcome milestone in the RDC. For the first time, a council chair from the region’s lone island province was appointed by the President notwithstanding the isolation of Batanes from the regional center.

The Chair’s performance in the government service is worthy of note. Now on his third term as Provincial Governor of Batanes after once again recording a whopping victory in the recent national and local elections, Chair Gato was with the Armed Forces of the Philippines – Philippine Navy from 1967 to 1991, humbly starting as Navy Enlistedmen until he retired as Captain. To his former colleagues, his 24-year stint with the Navy “was never tarnished until the day he retired as Chief Logistics Officer and Finance Advisor of the Philippine Navy.”

Fiscal discipline, prioritization in the implementation of programs and projects, transparency, preservation of cultural heritage, promotion of environmental integrity, and the generation of more jobs are the most remarkable achievements of Chair Gato since his assumption as Governor of Batanes in 1998.

Today, he faces one of the most significant challenges of his life in the noble arena of public service as he heads the highest policy-making body in the region and the primary institution which sets the direction of the economic and social development of Region 2. Under the Council are four sectoral committees namely: Social Development Committee (SDC), Infrastructure Development Committee (IDC), Economic Development Committee (EDC) and the Committee on Development Administration (CODA); an Advisory Committee (ADCOM), Executive Committee (EXCOM), and eight Support Committees.

Moreover, the Regional Development Council 2 is composed of the governors, city mayors, capital town mayors, presidents of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, regional line agencies, and private sector representatives. The NEDA Regional Office 2 is the mandated Secretariat of the Council.

As RDC Chair, Governor Gato underscores a resolve to sustain the legacy of strengthening the region’s economic, social and infrastructure sectors, while strengthening the democratic institutions in the process.

He has mastered the skill of dividing his time between working in the local government, the League of Provinces and the Regional Development Council. The joyful commitment is always evident and inspiring, and has convinced us to believe that Chair Gato has started to steer the helm zealously when he said:

“As a Governor who represents a tiny parcel of the population of the region, and being appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as Acting Chair of this highest policy-making body in the region, I am humbled as I accept the tasks and challenges ahead.”