What is the Master Development Plan?

The Master Development Plan (MDP) of the City of San Carlos is a unique document as it provides a framework for the city’s development goal to become a modern agro-industrial zone. Crucial to the attainment of such goal is the stipulation of strategic initiatives and projects based on key areas: economic development, social development, environmental conservation, and rural development.

Also unique to the MDP is the inclusive nature of the development framework that specifies key roles of different community sectors and institutions to attain a comprehensive and convergent service delivery mechanism. The comprehensiveness of the plan compelled the stakeholders that its implementation goes beyond the responsibility of a single institution, even that of the local government unit.

This led to the realization of the need for the establishment of a private entity to act as a coordinative body that would oversee the implementation of the MDP and catalyze the involvement of the different sectors and stakeholders. The San Carlos Development Board, Inc. was created as a non-stock non-profit organization that is independent of the local government structure. The San Carlos Development Board works closely with the local government unit, particularly its different departments to coordinate the implementation of the various components of the Plan. Structural mechanisms such as the Executive Planning Council guarantee this close collaboration and coordination so that decisions are multilateral.

The ten-year period within which the MDP is implemented and the five-year period within which the SCDBI was established necessitates a review of the programs, projects and activities (PPAs) that had been initiated and the accomplishments that had been gained so as to reveal nuances in the implementation process that would have a bearing on the integrity of the MDP as well as that of the SCDBI.