Section 1. — Project Management Office and Scope of Authority and Responsibility —— There is hereby created a Cagayan River Project Management Office within the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) with the following personnel:
Project Management Officer;
Deputy Project Management Officer;
Technical Staff seconded from each of the following agencies:
NEDA, DPWH, DA, NIA, BFAR, BGLF, DBM, NWRB, LBP, CEZA and Technical staff recruited from the academe.
The Project Management Office shall have the following responsibilities:
a. Coordinate and, where necessary, initiate and carry out formulation, implementation and monitoring of water and watershed policies, studies, management actions and investment in the river basin consistent with the ecological principle of using the river basin as a unit of management, the institutional principle of stakeholder participation and devolution of action at the lowest possible level and the instrument principle of managing watershed and water resources as an economic good or a scarce resource using incentives and economic principles;
b. Develop a Cagayan River Basin and Watershed Strategies Framework;
c. Organize the implementing structures, establish implementation policies, delegate authorities and responsibilities and call on other government agencies, financial institutions and donors, as needed to undertake basin-wide programs and project to applicable policies;
d. Establish and maintain structural consultation process at the appropriate executive levels with provincial, city and municipal LGUs, and representatives from people—s organizations (irrigators, upland farmers, fisherfolks, water user associations, indigenous people—s groups) and the private sector and civil society organizations based in the Cagayan Valley Region (academe, media, NGOs);
e. Develop a portfolio of LGU projects in the river basin;
f. Support/Undertake and/or coordinate the appraisal and feasibility studies of individual projects;
g. Assist LGUs in the packaging and documentation of their projects for submission to financing institutions;
h. Manage and coordinate the implementation of sub-projects under the River Basin Watershed Management Project;
i. Support the LGU—s, together with concerned line agencies, in the implementation of LGU sub-projects;
j. Facilitate the coordination and implementation of activities between the different agencies involved in management and development of the Cagayan River Basin;
k. Coordinate and plan with the relevant line agencies and LGUs to ensure proper operation and maintenance of the infrastructures in the Cagayan River Basin, including during periods of natural disaster, water scarcity and flood conditions;
l. Collect and manage data and information pertaining to water and land use in the Cagayan River Basin;
m. Administer finance and procurement; and
n. Undertake other duties and functions as may be necessary to perform its mandate.