World Bank-funded projects move  'satisfactorily'

Four Philippine projects funded by World Bank loans totaling over $1.37 billion movare progressing satisfactorily, according to the Washington-based multilateral lender, according to a report by Manila Bulletin.

In separate implementation status and results reports this month and last month, the World Bank said the Philippines Multisectoral Nutrition Project, Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project, Beneficiary FIRST Social Protection Project, and Infrastructure for Safer and Resilient Schools all have "satisfactory" overall implementation progress towards achieving their respective development objectives.

The Multisectoral Nutrition Project being implemented jointly by the Departments of Health (DOH) and of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) "has made noticeable progress in the implementation of activities across the different project components," the World Bank said on Feb. 25.

For instance, this project's performance-based grants (PBGs) have contributed significantly to improving project stewardship and prioritizing nutrition interventions in the budgeting and planning processes of local government units (LGUs).

Disbursement of loan proceeds has also improved to 57 percent last January from 52 percent in September 2024, "and [is] expected to increase further with the next tranche of PBGs in June 2025."

So far, $100.8 million out of the $ 178.1 million investment project financing has been spent for this project aimed at enhancing the utilization of a range of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions while improving key behaviors and practices to reduce stunting in targeted LGUs.

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, the World Bank reported that the Philippines suffered another "silent pandemic"—childhood stunting resulting from undernutrition. Stunted children are shorter in height compared to healthier, same-aged kids.

Pre-pandemic, 29 percent of Filipino children aged five and below were stunted, World Bank estimates had shown. In 2019, the Philippines had the fifth-highest stunting prevalence in the East Asia and Pacific region and was among the top 10 worldwide.

In the case of the Department of Agriculture's (DA) Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project, "key activities are well underway in the first nine ancestral domains (ADs) in the six regions of Mindanao, including an AD in Basilan province in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)," the World Bank said last Feb. 5.

To date, only 8.8 percent or $8.8 million out of the $100-million loan has been disbursed under this project that would increase agricultural productivity, resilience, and access to markets and services for organized farmer and fisherfolk groups in selected ADs and value chains in the southern Philippine island.

As for the DSWD's Beneficiary FIRST Social Protection Project, the World Bank cited "achievements of multiple digital transformation activities such as PhilSys ID adoption to authenticate 4Ps beneficiaries' identity, completion of pilot run to test dynamic social registry (i-Registro) web portal, and national rollout of digital financial literacy," referring to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

As such, this project's overall risk rating has been upgraded from "moderate" to "substantial" previously.

The acronym "FIRST" stands for "fast, innovative and responsive service transformation" of the targeted 4.4 million 4Ps beneficiary-households.

As Manila Bulletin earlier reported, the World Bank approved the reallocation of $95 million in loan proceeds from performance-based condition expenditures in November of last year to the DSWD's Pantawid cash grants, which now amount to $393.5 million.

The loan's closing date has also been extended by one year to June 30, 2026, instead of June 30 of this year.

To recall, the World Bank approved this loan back in September 2020—at the height of the most stringent Covid-19 lockdowns, before taking effect in January 2021, during the Duterte administration.

"Of the $600-million loan amount, total disbursement to date reached $584.1 million (or 97 percent). From July 17 to Nov. 15, 2024, project disbursements amounted to $146.8 million. With a realistic work plan that aligns with the project's conclusion in June 2026 and diligent monitoring of pending procurement items, financial management performance and disbursements are expected to further improve.," the World Bank said in a Jan. 29 report.

Meanwhile, loan financing for the Infrastructure for Safer and Resilient Schools project to be jointly implemented by the Departments of Education (DepEd) and of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has yet to become effective, pending a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the two agencies as well as a legal opinion to be issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the World Bank said on Jan. 30.

In November of last year, the Philippine government and the World Bank signed a $500-million loan agreement for this project to support the resilient recovery of disaster-affected schools in selected regions.