PH, ADB, tinintahan ang $500M loan accord para sa 4Ps program sa gitna ng COVID-19 crisis

Humiram ng panibagong $500 milyong loan ang Pilipinas mula sa multilateral lender Asian Development Bank (ADB) bilang budgetary support para sa conditional cash transfer program ng pamahalaan sa gitna ng coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Sa isang pahayag, sinabi ng Department of Finance (DOF) na nilagdaan nila Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III at ADB country director for the Philippines Kelly Bird ang loan agreement para sa Expanded Social Assistance Project (ESAP) noong Hunyo 15.

“We thank the ADB for again extending its support to our sustained efforts to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our economy and our people. This budget-support loan will not only help bridge our funding gap for our COVID-19 response but will also strengthen our social protection program as we restart our economy and help people get back on their feet amid the pandemic,” pahayag ni Dominguez.

Layunin ng ESAP, na bumubuo sa suporta ng ADB para sa social protection programs sa bansa, na tulungan ang pamahalaan sa patuloy na pagpapatupad ng pamahalaan ng conditional cash transfer initiative nito na tinatawag na Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

Layunin ng $500-milyong loan na ipagpatuloy ang pagpopondo ng education at health grants sa eligible 4Ps household-beneficiaries para sa loob ng apat na taon simula 2020.

Sinabi ng ADB na magbibigay din ito ng $3.1 milyong technical assistance grant upang “help improve the family and youth development sessions, update the list of eligible poor households, provide a package of livelihood and other support to help up to 3,000 households graduate out of poverty, support information technology (IT) reforms to automate compliance verification and grievance redress, and prepare for the integration of the 4Ps database with the government’s national ID system.”

Ito ang ikalawang karagdagang pondo na ibinigay ng ADB sa ilalim ng Social Protection Support Project (SPSP), na sumusuporta rin sa 4Ps.

“The ADB was among the first multilateral development institutions to provide assistance to the Philippines’ COVID-19 response with its delivery of a US$3-million grant for the government’s purchase of medical supplies for its frontline health workers, and another emergency grant of US$5 million to leverage private-sector donations for a food distribution program that has benefited 55,000 poor households in Metro Manila and neighboring areas,” ayon sa DOF.