World Bank gives Philippines ‘very satisfactory rating’

MANILA, Philippines — The World Bank gave the Philippines a “very satisfactory rating” in the implementation of the P34-billion World Bank and European Union-funded projects under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).

In an interview, World Bank Task Team Leader to the PRDP and senior agriculture economist Mio Takada cited the very satisfactory results of the three-week mission conducted to assess the PRDP original and scale-up projects.

“We have an opportunity to visit Mindanao in Bukidnon and Marinduque in Southern Luzon, all the activities are very satisfactory and people have very strong ownership on the ground and projects are maintained well,” Takada said.

She said the income of farmer beneficiaries also increased by 20 percent, adding that the PRDP projects helped in addressing poverty in the country.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the original PRDP project has benefitted more than three million Filipinos nationwide through 1,170 completed subprojects worth P34 billion.

According to Takada, the World Bank has already approved 75 infrastructure subprojects worth P11.44 billion under the PRDP scale-up project, 30 of which are under construction a year since its launch.

Takada said that local government units want to see the expansion of the PRDP activities in more areas, especially those recovering from the impact of COVID-19.

“They want to expand the support, that is why we are very glad to see the impacts of the projects,” she said.

According to Takada, the PDRP projects in Marinduque include farm-to-market roads to help farmers transport their coconut.

DA Assistant Secretary and PRDP national project director U-Nichols Manalo said that the farm-to-market roads improved the transportation of agriculture products.

“The reduction in travel time also increased the income of the farmers,” Manalo said.