Philippines seeks P15.9 billion loan to address flood woes

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will borrow $311 million (P15.9 billion) from two multilateral lenders for flood risk management, especially in the three major river basins in the country.

The new funding will be sourced from the Asian Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

The new funding will be sourced from the Asian Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Of the total project cost, $211 million (P10.78 billion) will be funded by ADB and $100 million (P5.11 billion) by AIIB while the remaining $79.9 million (P4.08 billion will be shouldered by the government.

Another $680,000 (P34.75 million) will be granted by the high-level technology fund of the ADB.

Financing approval is expected by December 2022 while the estimated date of loan closing is June 2029.

To be implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways, the project aims to reduce flood risks in three major river basins, namely Abra, Agus (Ranao), and Tagum-Libuganon River Basins, and enhance flood and climate change resilience.

It will also contribute to the improvement of the national flood risk management (FRM) by strengthening the institutional and technical capacity of government agencies and local communities, and by investing in the rehabilitation and construction of flood protection infrastructures.

The project will have three components: strategic flood risk management planning, flood protection infrastructure, and community-based flood risk management.

The first component aims to strengthen hydro-meteorological monitoring and flood flow monitoring in three target rivers basins, develop and operationalize a national asset management information system for FRM, and  undertake institutional strengthening on relevant entities to implement FRM plans.

The second targets to reduce the flood and climate vulnerability of the population, built-up areas, and agricultural lands by rehabilitating, upgrading, and constructing flood protection and mitigation infrastructure. Structural interventions that combine conventional engineering solutions and nature-based approaches will also be undertaken throughout the target basins.

The third component, on the other hand, aims to improve the flood and climate resilience of communities and local governments in the target basins by mainstreaming FRM into the planning documents, building capacities of communities in FRM and enhancing public awareness and participation, and undertaking studies on local FRM issues and providing training on climate risks.

AIIB said the environmental assessment covering impacts of activities in all three river basins has been carried out, and is currently being finalized.