Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. President Edward Du has submitted his irrevocable resignation as private sector representative to the Regional Development Council 7.
In a letter to RDC 7 Chair Erico Aristotle Aumentado, who is also the Governor of Bohol, Du said he resigned because of the sudden and unilateral removal of the Tamlang Valley Sustainable Agriculture for Growth and Resiliency (TVSAGR) Project from the top three programs, activities and projects (PAP) that were presented to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during his meeting with the RDC chairpersons in Malacañang on April 30.
This project was envisioned to make Tamlang Valley as the food basket of Central Visayas and is the flagship Public Private Partnership project of the Negros Oriental LGU and NOCCI adopting the whole of nation approach to address food security, insurgency and worsening climate crisis, Du said.
“As the private sector representative who initiated, advocated and lobbied for the TVSAGR Project approval by the RDC-7, I cannot, in conscience, continue to be a productive member of the council,” he said.
The sudden removal of the TVSAGR project from the Top 3 PAPS “without due process and without RDC-7 in full council deliberation and approval is not only improper but grossly unfair,” Du said.
He said the National Economic and Development Authority did not even have the courtesy to inform him of the unilateral removal through a text message or phone call.
