GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/30 Sept) — The Regional Development Council (RDC) of Region 12 has nominated two city mayors and two other leaders from the private sector to lead the council in the next three years.
Arturo Valero, RDC-12 acting chairperson, said Friday the region’s stakeholders have endorsed in a meeting last week city mayors Ronnel Rivera of this city and Lina Montilla of Tacurong City to vie as the council’s next chairperson.
He said they also nominated Sarangani Province’s private sector representative Richlie Lyndon Magtulis and economic sector representative Rolando Doria for the co-chairperson post.
“We already submitted their names to our central office for their formal endorsement to Malacanang,” he told MindaNews.
Valero said the appointment of the council’s next chair and co-chair will be decided by President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
The nomination was based on the provisions of Executive Order (EO) No. 325, series of 1996, which sets the guidelines for the “Reorganization of the Regional Development Councils.”
It provides that the RDC chair and co-chair shall serve for a fixed term of three years coinciding with the regular term of local elective officials.
EO 325 provides that if the RDC chair comes from the government sector, the co-chair must come from the private sector and vice versa.
Prior to their appointment, Valero said the nominees are required to submit clearances from the Office of the Ombudsman, National Bureau of Investigation and the Sandiganbayan.
Valero, who is also the regional director of the National Economic and Development-Region 12, has been serving as RDC-12 acting chairperson since July 2013.
Former President Benigno S. Aquino III did not appoint a replacement when the term of the council’s previous chair, former city mayor Darlene Antonino-Custodio, ended in June 2013.
Mayor Rivera is currently on his second term as city mayor while Montilla is on her third term.
Magtulis is the current chair of the RDC-12’s regional social development committee while Doria heads the economic development committee. (MindaNews)
