ADB approves $500-million loan to bolster Philippines’ disaster resilience

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $500 million policy-based loan to provide the Philippines with quick access to financing in case of disasters triggered by natural hazards or health-related emergencies. The financing will support reforms to raise resilience and enable timely response and recovery efforts, thus minimizing the impact of disasters on the economy and Filipinos’ lives and livelihoods.

The Second Disaster Resilience Improvement Program is a multiyear contingent disaster financing program with an option to replenish the facility twice, upon approval by the ADB Board. Loan renewals are allowed if there will be unutilized amounts after the initial 5-year period.

“The Philippines is one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia but is at high risk for earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, rising sea levels, and flooding,” said ADB Country Director for the Philippines Pavit Ramachandran. “With this program, we aim to help boost the country’s capacity for disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) nationally and locally, including state-owned and controlled corporations; strengthen DRRM policies and frameworks; and attain long-term resilience to lessen the impact of disasters, especially to the most vulnerable sectors.”

The Philippines ranked as  the highest in disaster risk out of 193 economies in 2024, according to the World Risk Report 2024. At least 60% of its total land area is exposed to multiple hazards, with nearly three-fourths of its entire population susceptible to the impact of these hazards. The country experiences at least 20 typhoons and an average of up to 150 earthquakes of at least magnitude 4 every year.

The new program seeks to harmonize DRRM planning processes at the national, provincial, and city levels and integrate DRRM in national public financial management (PFM) reforms as prescribed in the PFM roadmap developed with ADB’s support. It also seeks to incorporate gender equity, disability, and social inclusion in DRRM plans; enhance the service delivery of state-owned or controlled corporations for disaster response; and provide additional sources of risk financing, including a voluntary city parametric disaster insurance scheme that offers faster payouts for damages from earthquakes, typhoons, and other disasters.

The program forms a central part of ADB’s support to the Philippines to build disaster resilience. It builds on the reforms achieved under the first Disaster Resilience Improvement Program. It also leverages past ADB assistance on climate and disaster resilience, such as the support for the Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) program, which addressed the post-disaster needs of local communities.

The program complements ADB’s Integrated Flood Resilience and Adaptation Project (Phase 1), which is helping prepare and implement DRRM plans to reduce selected LGUs’ disaster vulnerabilities. Finally, it builds on the Climate Change Action Plan Subprograms 1 and 2, which support the implementation of national climate policies and the scale-up of climate adaptation and mitigation efforts at the national and local levels.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 69 members—49 from the region.