MANILA, Philippines – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is setting aside $500 million for the Philippines’ Local Government Finance and Fiscal Decentralization Reform Program. In addition, the ADB is willing to provide a $1-million technical assistance (TA) grant for the program.
The policy-based $500-million loan will be used to get the reform program off the ground, which will be issued in two tentative tranches of $250 million each starting this year and the second in 2015.
A co-financing partner Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) will allocate an additional $150 million.
The TA is a preparatory project that will provide the required technical and logistical resources to assist the government-led review of the 1991 Local Government Code.
The main bulk of the TA will go to international and domestic consultants accounting for half of the entire grant. The remaining amount will be used for travel expenses, hard and software, seminars and workshops, and the like.
The local government reform program aims to improve service delivery by increasing the efficiency and transparency of local governance and financial management systems.
Based on the ADB report, reducing local disparities in access to services is critical to achieving the government’s goal of inclusive growth and poverty reduction.
The poverty rate was 26.5 percent in 2009 and increasing to 27.9 percent in the first semester of 2012 above prevailing rates in neighboring countries in Southeast Asia.
Geographically, the poor remain concentrated in the southern Philippines and in rural areas. The poverty rate in the Visayas and Mindanao regions is double that in Luzon, and two-thirds of the poor live in rural areas. Similar disparities are found in terms of access to services.
It said that improvements to local public financial systems must be followed by reforms to the regulatory framework for intergovernmental fiscal relations and improvements to local governance systems. The Philippines Development Plan (PDP), 2011-2016 identifies specific challenges for local government units (LGUs) in the achievement of its main goals: promoting inclusive growth and generating employment, eliminating corruption, and achieving fiscal sustainability. The ADB said that to assist in realizing major gains in that direction, substantive changes to the existing regulatory framework for intergovernmental fiscal relations are required. –Ted P. Torres (The Philippine Star)
September 18 –
International Equal Pay Day
“Increase wages now,
more than other cost items.
For widespread, practical equality!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the recommendations of the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry
against serious violations of protocols of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association.
Accept the National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands
#Report Corruption #SearchPosts #TakePicturesVideos
October –
Monthly Observances:
Industry and Commerce Safety Month
National Statistics Month
Local Government Month
Consumer Welfare Month
Cooperative Month
National Quality and Productivity Improvement Month
National Health and Wellness Tourism Month
National Indigenous Peoples Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 1: Elderly Filipino Week
Week 2: National Health Education Week
Local Government Week
National Mental Health Week
October 17-23:
National Week for Overcoming Extreme Poverty
October 18 – 24:
United Nations Week
Last Week:
Nurses’ Week
Consumers’ Protection Week
Week of the 4th Sunday:
Barrio Farmers’ Week
Daily Observances:
First Monday (Oct 4): Universal Children’s Day i
n the Philippines
Oct 5: National Teachers’ Day
Oct 10: Local Government Day
Third Thursday (Oct 14): Conflict Resolution Day
Oct 21: Tenants’ Emancipation day
Oct 24: United Nations Day
Oct 29: National Indigenous People’s Thanksgiving Day
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
