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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider The Economy devider Philippines seeks World Bank loan to better fight epidemics and pandemics

Philippines seeks World Bank loan to better fight epidemics and pandemics

Published Aug 14, 2025 11:31 am
Another loan from the World Bank is forthcoming for the Philippines, this time to finance the country’s fight against epidemics by strengthening both human and animal health systems to improve pandemic preparedness.
According to a Aug. 12 concept environmental and social review summary disclosed by the Washington-based multilateral lender on Aug. 13, the Philippines is seeking an investment project financing (IPF) for the so-called Pandemic Fund-Resilient Philippines.
According to this World Bank document seen by Manila Bulletin, the upcoming loan is aimed at “[improving] the country’s capacity to detect, report, and respond to existing and emerging pathogens with epidemic potential among humans, animals, and wildlife.”
The World Bank’s board is expected to approve this loan on Nov. 28, 2025.
The project will be implemented by the departments of Agriculture (DA) and of Health (DOH), as well as the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).
The World Bank document did not disclose yet the specific amount of financing sought by the Philippine government, only indicating a total project cost of $18.85 million, or over ₱1 billion.
A subsequent Aug. 15 project information document (PID) said the Department of Finance (DOF) will borrow, on behalf of the Philippine government, $18.84 million, which is both the total operation cost and total financing for the project.
According to the World Bank PID, financing will be sourced from the Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response Trust Fund (Pandemic Fund), which was established in 2022.
This project has three components: the first component focuses on strengthening human health systems through expanded disease surveillance, upgraded reporting and lab systems, and workforce capacity building for pandemic preparedness.
The second component enhances animal health by improving surveillance, information systems, and lab capacity; the third component supports overall project management and monitoring and evaluation.
The first component will enhance national human health surveillance by expanding the One Health pilot to two epidemic-prone provinces, digitizing disease tracking, improving laboratory systems, and building workforce capacity, including the establishment of a One Health Genomics Consortium and piloting rapid diagnostics in underserved areas, the World Bank said.
The second component will address animal health by upgrading surveillance systems and diagnostic laboratories in two hotspot provinces for African swine fever (ASF) and highly pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).
Specifically, “this component will finance upgrading of BAI’s animal disease diagnostic reference laboratory (ADDRL) located in Manila and two regional animal disease diagnostic laboratories (RADDLs),” with the aim of “[providing] timely and reliable diagnostic testing, addressing both food safety and animal disease risks, while supporting broader agricultural objectives,” the World Bank said.
As Manila Bulletin reported earlier, the Philippines plans to borrow a total of $7.85 billion from the World Bank in the next two years under their new six-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF) or lending program supportive of the country’s climb to upper-middle-income country (UMIC) status.
The World Bank Group (WBG) had programmed to extend to the Philippines up to $23 billion in loans and other financing from mid-2025 to mid-2031, covering the lender’s fiscal years (FYs) 2026 to 2031.

Related Tags

World Bank World Bank Group (WBG) Department of Agriculture (DA) Department of Health (DOH) Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI)
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