President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has
officially presented the
People’s Survival Fund
(PSF) Resolutions approving a historic amount
of over PHP 541 million
for climate adaptation
projects to local government unit (LGU) beneficiaries, marking a significant
stride in the nation’s battle
against climate change.
E s t a b l i s h e d
under Republic Act No.
10174 in 2012, the PSF
had an initial capitalization
of PHP 1 billion to finance
adaptation programs and
projects of LGUs and accredited local and community organizations.
The recent approval of the six (6) new
climate adaptation projects worth over PHP 541
million brings the total
number of PSF-funded
projects to 11 climate adaptation initiatives and 6
projects for Project Development Grants (PDG),
amounting to a combined
PHP 889.6 million. This
increased the PSF’s utilization rate to 89 percent,
leaving only 11 percent of
the initial allocation of PHP
1 billion.
The PSF Board
hopes that the Fund will
be replenished to finance
new project proposals.
Among the beneficiaries, the Provincial
Government of Mountain
Province, led by Governor
Bonifacio C. Lacwasan,
Jr., received a grant worth
PHP 271.15 million for the
construction of a Climate
Field School (CFS) for
farmers.
The CFS, which
will be constructed inside
the Mountain Province
State Polytechnic College’s (MPSPC) 285-hectare Paracellis Campus,
aims to increase the yields
of the agriculture and fisheries sectors and mitigate
the risks of climate change
through good agricultural
practices and sustainable
resource management.
Meanwhile, the
Province of Maramag,
Bukidnon, represented by
Mayor Jose Joel P. Doroma, secured a PSF grant
worth PHP 126.40 million
for the installation of drainage and early warning
systems as well as the
development of the agroforestry industry.
The project,
which underwent Climate
Rationale Review and
Evaluation (CRRE) and
the Climate Change Commission’s (CCC) validation
process, aims to reduce
flood risks as well as build
the climate resilience and
adaptive capacity of vulnerable communities and
the local governance of
Maramag.
Specifically, the
project has four (4) main
components namely, Improved Flood Management System, Strengthened River Ecosystem
Management, Intensified
Response Capacity of
LGU, and Agroforestry Social Enterprise Livelihood
Development.
The City Local
Government of Borongan City, Eastern Samar,
through Mayor Jose Ivan
Dayan C. Agda, received
a grant worth PHP 117.96
million for the installation
of embankment infrastructure and reforestation for
enhanced flood control of
the Lo-om River.
The project involves the construction of
an enhanced flood control
system for the Lo-om riverbank using embankment
infrastructure with 507.6
meters in length and increased height from 2.60
meters to 4.70 meters,
preventing barangays surrounding the area from
being inundated by flood
waters.
It likewise involves reforestation in the
upstream area of the Loom River which includes
20 hectares of denuded
land and 50 hectares of
land along the banks of
said river.
In addition, capacity building for the local
government officials and
community residents in
the operation of the early
warning system will also
be conducted alongside
training on coco coir and
coco wine production as
an alternative source of income for the affected residents.
The Municipality
of Cabagan, Isabela, represented by Mayor Christopher A. Mamauag, was
provided a grant worth
PHP 21.28 million for the
installation of an irrigation
project.
The project,
which is consistent with
the National Climate
Change Action Plan (NCCAP) Strategic Priority No.
1 of Food Security, will use
three (3) Solar-Powered
Irrigation System (SPIS)
in three (3) barangays,
namely Mabangug, Masipi East, and San Antonio,
to irrigate drought-affected farmlands thereby increasing total agricultural
yield during drought season.
The target farmlands of up to 120 hectares are owned by the
farmer-beneficiaries and
shall be replicated in other barangays also affected
by drought upon successful implementation of the
pilot program.
Meanwhile, the
Municipality of Catanauan,
Quezon Province, represented by Mayor Ramon
A. Orfanel, was granted
PSF funding worth PHP
2.64 million for its Mangrove rehabilitation project.
The project aims
to address the vulnerability
of the municipality to storm
surges and flooding, especially in Brgy. Matandang
Sabang Kanluran (MSK).
This will include activities
such as nursery establishment, training, capacity
buildings, an Information
and Education Campaign
(IEC), mangrove tree
planting, and wildlife protection and monitoring.
Finally, the
Municipality of Besao,
Mountain Province,
through Mayor Bryne O.
Bacwaden, received a
grant worth PHP 2.00 million for the Water Harvesting Structures Project.
The project includes the construction of
five (5) water-impounding
structures along Lacayan
River, which will be used
as a rainwater catchment
facility to prevent flashfloods during the wet season; an irrigation source
for the municipality’s rice
terraces during the dry
season; and siltation control facility.
The project aims
to increase the municipality’s resiliency and disaster
risk reduction preparedness to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate
change and to improve
the quality of life through
enhanced food security for
the people of Besao.
Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno,
who is the chairperson of
the PSF Board, attributed the swift approvals
of the new projects to
the streamlined review
process initiated by the
Department of Finance
(DOF).
In the past, two
primary issues hindered
the swift processing of
project approval by the
PSF Board: the lack of capacity to prepare bankable
projects and the tedious
procedures.
Upon taking up
the role of PSF Secretariat
in 2017, the DOF initiated
measures to expedite fund
utilization and streamline
the project proposal process. This has resulted
in the formulation of a Financing Agreement template––a crucial document
that facilitates the transfer
of funds to the recipients.
On top of this, the
DOF collaborated with the
Department of Budget and
Management (DBM) and
the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) to design a fund
transfer flow mechanism
and swiftly acted on pending projects in tandem with
the Development Bank of
the Philippines (DBP).
Moreover, the
capacity-building function
was delegated to the Climate Change Commission
(CCC), which now collaborates individually with
LGUs to conduct one-onone consultations to guide
proponents through the
drafting process and necessary paperwork for PSF
grants.
The CCC and
other member agencies of
the PSF Board are continuously collaborating closely in order to efficiently
identify and address bottlenecks in the system.
Moving forward,
Secretary Diokno said the
PSF Board shall adopt a
rolling system of approval,
subject to replenishment
through the General Appropriations Act (GAA), or
grants, endowments, and
contributions from organizations and partners.
During the ceremonial presentation of
the PSF Resolutions, the
President was joined by
members of the multi-sectoral PSF Board, namely
DOF Secretary Diokno,
Department of Interior and
Local Government (DILG)
Secretary Benjamin Abalos, Jr., CCC Vice Chairperson and Executive Director Robert E.A. Borje,
CCC Commissioner Albert
Dela Cruz, National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA) Undersecretary Carlos Bernardo
Abad Santos, DOF Undersecretary Alu Dorotan
Tiuseco, DBM Undersecretary Leo Angelo Larcia,
and Philippine Commission on Women (PCW)
Executive Director Kristine
Rosary E. Yuzon-Chaves.
Other members
of the Board including
representatives from the
academe and scientific
community, the business
sector, and the non-government organization sector were also present at
the event.
Barangay Health
and Wellness (BHW) Party-list Representative Angelica Natasha Co also
witnessed the ceremonial
presentation. Dof.gov
