Manila, Philippines – On March 28, following the signing of a financial agreement in early March, the Philippines Government granted a total of Php 192 million or roughly USD 4 million of climate adaptation funds to four local governments through its People’s Survival Fund. The Fund was established in 2012 through Republic Act 10174 as a special fund that supports local government units in implementing climate adaptation plans and projects.
The Php 192 million grant will support the local governments of Del Carmen in Surigao del Norte in creating livelihood opportunities for the farmers and fisher folks; Lanuza in Surigao del Sur in its ridge-to-reef approach in conserving its watersheds; Gerona in Tarlac in improving its water management; and Camotes Island in Cebu in its water supply management vis-à-vis the challenge of saltwater intrusion.
The Climate Change Commission through its Technical Evaluation Services Unit together with development partners like GGGI provided technical support and conducted capacity development activities to support local government units like Gerona and Del Carmen in conceptualizing their project proposals through the PSF Support Project. During the consultation workshops conducted by CCC and GGGI for the local government units (LGUs) of Tarlac in May 2016 and Del Carmen in June 2016, the application and evaluation process of PSF were discussed. The consultation guided the LGUs on what documents are needed to be prepared and what to expect during the evaluation process. The LGUs were also coached on how and what are the essentials elements of a quality evidenced and science-based proposals. It also worth noting that Del Carmen uses CCC-GGGI’s report on Vulnerability and Hazard Assessment concluded in 2011 through the Ecotown Project as one of the main reference document that supports the development of Del Carmen’s PSF project.
With the Department of Finance and Climate Change Commission leading efforts to operationalize the PSF and capacitate LGUs, a total of nine more project proposals amounting to Php979 million or roughly US$20 million in grants are in the pipeline and are being considered for approval.
The CCC and GGGI through its project, Support to the Operationalization of the People’s Survival Fund Project, will be conducting more capacity development activities and project proposal writing workshops this 2018.
About the Project
The Support to the Operationalization of the People’s Survival Fund Project (PSF Support Project) provides support to (i) strengthen the Climate Change Commission as one of the PSF Board member in delivering its mandate and function to mainstream climate change policies in the national and local development plans and projects; (ii) capacitate decision makers to prioritize climate resilient programs for sustainable planning and investment decisions; and (iii) assist the LGUs in project identification and development, and in complying with the processing requirements of the PSF and other similar climate financing facilities, given that poorer LGUs are relatively behind in terms of capacity to satisfy the technical conditions and requirements of PSF.
The Project has three components: (a) Component 1: Institutional Strengthening; (b) Component 2: Project Development; and (c) Component 3: Resource Mobilization.