MANILA, Philippines - The World Bank (WB) has approved a $250,000 grant under its Institutional Development Fund (IDF) to strengthen the capabilities of the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) and the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) in reducing corruption in government agencies.
Through the grant, the government will be able to hire independent assessors, who are experts on integrity reviews, to assess at least three agencies, namely the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Health (DOH).
The grant will finance a project called “Strengthening Institutions Towards the Implementation of Effective Anti-Corruption Programs,” which will boost the effectiveness of two government anti-corruption programs of the PAGC and the Ombudsman, namely the Integrity Development Action Plan (IDAP) and the Development Review (IDR), respectively.
The executive branch has adopted IDAP’s measures, launched in 2005 by the PAGC, as its national anti-corruption framework for 135 government agencies and local government units (LGUs).
The IDR, on the other hand, is a systematic assessment of corruption resistance mechanisms of government agencies and their vulnerability to corruption used by the Ombudsman.
A total of 16 national agencies have been subjected to the IDR since it was launched in 2006.
“These assessors will also review the IDR-IDAP procedures to harmonize and simplify guidelines and procedures to improve the collaboration and cooperation between PAGC and OMB in fighting corruption,” the World Bank said in a statement.
The grant will also fund the development of an effective results monitoring and evaluation tool which will include civil society organizations in monitoring and measuring progress of anti-corruption programs in government agencies.
“The effectiveness and credibility of public institutions is important for achieving better development outcomes in the Philippines,” said Bert Hofman, World Bank country director for the Philippines.
Hofman added that the anti-corruption program supports the Philippines’ efforts to maintain macroeconomic stability, improve its investment climate, reduce vulnerabilities from sudden economic difficulties and natural disasters, and improve delivery of public services and strengthen governance.
The Institutional Development Fund is a World Bank grant instrument designed to finance quick, action-oriented, upstream capacity-building activities that supports the World Bank’s assistance strategy for the Philippines. The new assistance strategy intends to help national government agencies, local government units, and other sectors of society, demonstrate improved accountability and transparency for better development results.