ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Business devider Banking & Finance devider Philippines secures two more World Bank grants worth $3.7 million

Philippines secures two more World Bank grants worth $3.7 million

Published Oct 2, 2025 11:27 am
The World Bank has extended two more grants totaling $3.7 million (about ₱215 million) to the Philippines to support the development of projects that the Washington-based multilateral lender may finance through loans in the future.
On behalf of the Philippine government, Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto on Tuesday, Sept. 30, signed the letter agreement for the $1.7-million (nearly ₱99-million) World Bank grant to develop the proposed Technology-driven, Human-centered climate and disaster Resilience through Innovation for Vulnerable Empowerment (THRIVE) Project.
For the World Bank, Zafer Mustafaoğlu, division director for the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei, was the signatory.
This financing was drawn from the Grant Facility for Project Preparation, which is jointly administered by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the World Bank Group’s (WBG) lending arm for developing countries like the Philippines, and the WBG’s International Development Association (IDA), which lends to the world’s poorest nations.
According to the document seen by Manila Bulletin, the THRIVE Project, if it pushes through, will be implemented by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
The World Bank said this grant assistance, which will close on Dec. 31, 2026, would allow the DOST to define end-users and design policies and systems; prepare subproject proposals and a project management office (PMO); conduct financial, procurement, environmental, social, and climate risk assessments; establish monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems; as well as carry out feasibility studies, training, consultations, and learning exchanges.
The grant amount must be fully disbursed four months after the closing date.
On Wednesday, Oct. 1, Recto signed the agreement for the $2-million (over ₱116-million) World Bank grant for the Clean Philippines Multiphase Approach (Phase 1) Project. Mustafaoğlu likewise signed this letter agreement on behalf of the lender.
Also funded by the Grant Facility for Project Preparation, the proposed project will be implemented by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
The World Bank grant for the MMDA project will facilitate research, pilot demonstrations, and policy design to assess innovative technologies, strengthen systems and institutions, and prepare implementing agencies through feasibility studies, technical analyses, and subproject proposals.
It will also cover upstream work to complete all requirements for Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) and Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) approval, including financial, procurement, environmental, social, and climate risk assessments, M&E systems, and stakeholder capacity building through training, consultations, and learning exchanges.
Just like the grant for the DOST, the MMDA funding will close at end-December next year and must be fully spent by end-April 2027.
As Manila Bulletin reported earlier, the Department of Education’s (DepEd) proposed Supporting Early Childhood Education and Development Project was also granted a $1.7-million World Bank grant, whose agreement was signed by Recto last Sept. 29.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.