Philippines, Spain ink aid management protocol

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippines and Spain signed here today the Administrative Protocol of Aid Management for the conflict-affected areas in the restive country.

Teresita Deles, Philippine presidential adviser on the peace process, signed the protocol on behalf of the Philippine government, while Vicente Sells Zaragoz, coordinator general of the Agencia Espanola de Cooperacion Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID), signed it on behalf of the Spanish government.

Deles said that with the inking of the document, more local government units (LGUs) from various municipalities are set to be trained on mainstreaming conflict sensitivity and peace promoting approaches to their planning processes under the help of the Spanish government.

"We are expanding the reach of our partnership to capacitate more LGUs across the country and continue our work in strengthening their capacities in mainstreaming peace and development in local governance," she said.

According to Deles, AECID has been funding the Mainstreaming Peace and Development in Local Governance Project (MPDLGP) since 2011 when it committed to providing the Philippine government a grant amounting to 1,500,000 euros.

"We are hoping that more LGUs particularly in conflict-affected areas will be able to implement initiatives that will address the root causes of conflict in their respective localities," Deles said.