The paper prescribes a regional development strategy as an alternative approach to economic policies which have failed, if not perpetuated, disparities between regions. It discusses the history of the country’s policy on regional development, evaluating effectiveness or subsequent failure of the strategies pursued. The paper also assesses the administrative aspects of regional development. Case in point is the Bicol region, one of the depressed regions in the country and a recipient since 1973 of attention and assistance from the national government.