(L-R) DEPDev-10 ARD Richardson Cua, XU VPSD Dexter Lo, and DEPDev-10 RD Mylah Cariño

On 8 August 2025, Xavier University (XU) was inducted as a member of the Regional Development Council (RDC) in Northern Mindanao (Region 10). XU’s membership in the council is particularly due to its leadership and societal influence in Climate and Disaster Resilience and Land Use Analysis and Planning.

The RDC is the highest planning and policy-making body for socio-economic development in each administrative region of the country. During the Convention of the Private Sector Organizations, Ms Mylah Faye Aurora B Cariño, Region 10 Director of the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev), also emphasized that development should be sustainable and inclusive.

The DEPDev is the country’s primary arm for planning, coordination, and monitoring. DEPDev Regional Offices are the primary policy, planning, coordinating, and monitoring arms of the Philippine government. They also serve as the Secretariat of the Regional Development Councils.

XU’s membership in the RDC-10 is not only a recognition of its past involvement in the regional development planning. It also invites XU to sustain its pivotal role in training new and future professionals that embodies strategic foresight and sustainability practices, with preferential option for the poor and care for the environment.  

Engr Dexter S Lo, Vice President for Social Development, served as the official XU representative to the RDC-10. Engr Lo has been a member of the RDC-10’s Regional Land Use Committee (RLUC) since 2009.