Gov’t steps up efforts to improve ODA utilization

The government said it is stepping up efforts to improve the utilization of ODA (official development assistance) loans and put in place a more transparent system for the use of such funding packages.

As such, the Department of Finance and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) are working with civil society organizations for a “common accountability assessment framework” that involves the National Government, civil society organizations (CSOs) and lawmakers.

NEDA deputy director general Rolando Tungpalan said there is a need for  an institutionalized involvement of the CSOs because this would help improve aid effectiveness in the country.

“In the case of the Philippines, we need to establish at the national level a coherent and rationalized aid coordination structures for all ODA inflows to the National Government and the CSOs,” he said.

He said CSOs should also align with national development strategies, sectoral and regional plans to achieve an effective development aid. 

This means, he said, that CSOs should actively participate in the planning and development policy dialogues but have to “look  first  on  the  issue  of  fragmentation  and  diversity of CSOs for appropriate representation in various government forums.”

What CSOs can do is to establish a joint tracking or monitoring system that efficiently manages all ODA inflows and institutionalize a mechanism for progress review with donor partners, Tungpalan added.

However, officials recognized limitations on capturing information on aid inflows in the national budget exist as some aid flows do not require budget appropriations. 

ODA loans to government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) and government financial institutions (GFIs) are not reflected in the budget.

ODA loans come from multilateral agencies such as the Asian Development Bank. The loans are usually used for development projects and are tied with certain conditions.