Despite delays due to budget cuts, the World Bank has lauded the implementation of its one-decade-old financing for a local community poverty-reduction program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Referring to its loans for the DSWD's National Community-Driven Development Project (NCDDP), the World Bank said in an Oct. 15 implementation status and results report that "the project has performed remarkably well."
"Ahead of project closing on Dec. 31, 2024, [it] is close to meeting and even surpassing, all its targets and achieving the project development objective" of empowering communities in the participating 926 municipalities and 13,890 barangays to improve access to services as well as participate in more inclusive local planning, budgeting and implementation, the Washington-based multilateral lender added.
As of mid-September this year, the DSWD "achieved and surpassed" 15 of NCDDP's 16 key performance indicators (KPIs), with the pending KPI target seen completed before the upcoming closing date.
NCDDP is the scaled-up version of its predecessor Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDDS) project.
World Bank financing was approved and took effect in 2014, and then got restructured twice—in 2019 and 2023—upon the request of the Department of Finance (DOF).
On top of the original $479-million loan that was supposed to end in 2019 but got extended by one year, the World Bank board green-lit another $300 million in 2020.
Of the initial loan, the DSWD already spent $430.54-million worth before it was restructured and cancelled the unspent $48.46 million; for the additional World Bank infusion, $296.25 million or 98.75 percent of total have been disbursed to date.
Last year, NCDDP's restructuring document noted that "while the project generally continues to perform well, budget cuts and delays in budget availability have resulted in activities being significantly delayed."
"While a financing plan was included in the proposal approved by the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) did not, as normal, abide by this financing plan" after the additional World Bank loan took effect in 2021, the document said.
Also, portions of the counterpart Philippine government funds for this project had been lodged under unprogrammed appropriations in the 2022 and 2023 national budgets, entailing the DSWD to submit a special budget request (SBR) before special allotment release order (SARO) issuance.
"While the Philippines' fiscal year runs from January to December, funds were not made available by the DBM [until] several months into the year, which meant that activities could not be initiated. Due to the lack of available funding and the timing of releases, planned activities were therefore deferred and delayed," the document read.
In light of reduced and late availability of government funding during the years 2021 to 2023, last year's approved restructuring not only extended loan proceeds implementation by one more year but also downscaled some previously more ambitious targets.