European Union extends $67.9 million in grant for Mindanao devt projects

THE European Union (EU) extended two grants amounting to €60.5 million (about P3.38 billion or US$67.9 million) to the Philippine government to help it build peace and spur economic growth in Mindanao.

In a statement, the Department of Finance (DOF) said over the weekend that the Philippine government acquired a 35.5-million euro grant (about P1.98 billion) for the Mindanao Peace and Development Programme (Minpad)-rise Mindanao on June 26 and a 25-million euro grant (or roughly P1.397 billion) for the Support to Bangsamoro Transition (Subatra) program on July 1.

To be implemented by MINDA, the Minpad-rise Mindanao project aims to “contribute to a peaceful, cohesive, secure and inclusively developed Mindanao” and “improve social cohesion, resiliency of communities, and increased economic opportunities in Mindanao,” according to the International Finance Group of the DOF.

Among the expected outputs of the Minpad-rise Mindanao project is the strengthened capacities of agricultural cooperatives “for better service delivery and creation of an enabling environment for the private sector” and the improvement of community-based socio-economic infrastructure providing basic economic and social services to communities.”

With the project’s entire cost amounting to 149.5 million euros (about US$167.56 million or P8.356 billion), it will be co-financed by the EU together with the government of Germany for an indicative amount of €4 million (about US$4.48 million or P223.56 million) and the World Bank, for an indicative amount of US$130 million (€115.99 million or roughly P6.433 billion).

On the other hand, the 5-year Subatra program is designed to “contribute to a peaceful, cohesive, secure and inclusively developed Bangsamoro” and “establish an enabling democratic governance environment for a smooth implementation of the transition in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao [Barmm].”

It is also expected to boost the capacity of the Bangsamoro executive branch in formulating and implementing transitional policies, and strengthen the Barmm Parliament’s ability to exercise its legislative, oversight and representation functions during the transition.

Improving the capacity of Barmm’s multifaceted Bangsamoro Justice System to adjudicate legislation that are aligned with international human rights standards and enhancing the role of civil society in contributing to a peaceful transition in the autonomous region are also among the expected outputs of the program.

With EU’S 25 million grant (or roughly P1.397 billion), it is providing 96 percent of the estimated total cost of Subatra amounting to 26 million euros or about P1.46 billion or US$29.2 million while the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation) committed to cover the remaining 1 million euros or P55.89 million. The EU is a major contributor to the Mindanao Trust Fund for Reconstruction and Development, a multi-donor grant facility established in 2005 to consolidate international development assistance for the socio-economic recovery of conflict-affected communities in southern Philippines.

The Philippine government welcomed the EU grant as a way “to achieve regional growth and financial inclusion” and will help the Mindanao Development Authority improve infrastructure and create jobs in rural communities.

“This EU assistance will certainly help the Duterte administration achieve its goal of just and lasting peace and development in the southern Philippines, and in supporting genuine autonomy in the Bangsamoro region,” the DOF statement read. Bernadette D. Nicolas