(Eagle News)–The Philippines is looking to replenish the People’s Survival Fund, intended for climate adaptation projects, with the help of various donors and multilateral financing institutions, the Department of Finance said.
According to Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, among the multilateral financing institutions that could aid countries, including the Philippines, are the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which provided the country assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He added there are also available donors through multilateral development banks (MDBs).
For this, he said every country must show prudence and fiscal discipline and organization.
“But my message is clear: I said it is the responsibility of every country, every community, every individual to do their share in making sure that planet Earth will be around for many, many years to come, right? And so we’re doing our job,” he said.
He said so far, the government has been able to move close to P600 million grants to local governments for climate adaptation and resiliency projects.
To increase government resources, the finance chief said the government also needs public-private participation.
He said for this, the Public Private Partnership Code was very important.
The government said Republic Act 11966, or An Act Providing for the PPP Code of the Philippines, will establish “a stable and predictable environment for collaboration between the public and private sectors.”
It said it aims to address the gaps in infrastructure systems and free up resources to enable the government to pursue other equally important projects and initiatives.
“Basically, the message is very clear.…. We can’t forget the (Sustainable Development Goals), right?” the finance chief said.
