No Philippine budget cover from 2023 to 2025

The World Bank has once again flagged delays in a project it is funding to better equip Metro Manila against earthquakes, which may prove more costly when the Philippines' capital region is shaken by the anticipated "Big One."

"Despite significant delays in the initial two years of implementation, the project has still enhanced the capacity of the DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways] in emergency response, with additional 124 heavy equipment to restore transport and mobility in the National Capital Region (NCR) in the event of the 'Big One,'" the Washington-based multilateral lender said in a May 3 implementation status and results report on the Philippines seismic risk reduction and resilience project, seen by Manila Bulletin.

"However, the retrofitting of public schools and health facilities, which will minimize damages and lives lost, has yet to start. The civil works contracts for the first batch of buildings are scheduled to be signed in August 2025," the report added.

"While most of the critical actions from the last mission have been completed, some actions have slipped, especially related to the launch of the civil works procurement. A lengthy internal review and approval process continues to contribute to delays in procurement," it lamented, referring to a World Bank team that assessed the project's progress, midway through implementation, in September last year.

"Over the next six months, the project will need to catch up and gain momentum in the procurement of civil works," the World Bank said, adding that a six-month action plan will be crafted to accelerate its implementation.

The World Bank has assigned a "substantial" overall risk rating for this project, which is being implemented by the DPWH. The lender said that the overall implementation progress to achieve the project's development objectives is "moderately satisfactory."

When this investment project financing (IPF) was approved in 2021, the DPWH aimed not only to fortify the safety and seismic resilience of over 400 government buildings—including health centers and schools—in Metro Manila by retrofitting them, but also to enhance the agency's capacity to prepare for and respond to earthquake emergencies.

World Bank estimates have shown that "The Big One"—a strong, magnitude-7.2 earthquake feared to strike along West Valley Fault—could cause about 48,000 fatalities and $48 billion in economic losses.

In its previous report in November last year, the World Bank flagged "the persistent lack of budget cover" for the project. To date, only a little more than a fifth, or $60.27 million, out of the $300-million loan obtained by the previous Duterte administration, has been disbursed.

As Manila Bulletin reported earlier, documents on the ₱6.352-trillion 2025 national budget showed that this project has been allocated ₱2.798 billion from World Bank loan proceeds, but there is no counterpart government financing this year—meaning it may fall under the so-called unprogrammed appropriations not included in regular budget items and dependent on extra revenues or additional borrowing.

Prior years’ budget documents also showed that there were no Philippine government allocations for this project in 2023 and 2024. The government is supposed to shell out ₱461.16 million in counterpart funds for this over-₱15-billion project, which is scheduled to end in mid-2026.

Meanwhile, a separate World Bank implementation status and results report, also dated May 3, for the Department of Education’s (DepEd) teacher effectiveness and competencies enhancement project expressed a similar concern about delays due to the lack of budget cover.

"The project has faced delayed implementation, due to delays in the issuance of the 2024 special allotment release order (SARO) and the notice of cash allocation (NCA), which were released only in August and November 2024, respectively. These financial constraints have necessitated the rescheduling of several key activities to 2025," the World Bank lamented.

"In response to these delays, the DepEd has submitted a request for project restructuring to the Department of Finance (DOF) to provide flexibility in meeting the performance-based conditions (PBCs). The bank team expects to receive the restructuring request from the DOF in April 2025," it added.

In 2023, the Philippines borrowed $110 million for this DepEd project, aimed at improving the quality and equity of instruction from kindergarten to Grade 6 (K–6) in selected poorer regions of the country. So far, just $7.99 million, or 7.26 percent of the total loan proceeds, have been disbursed ahead of this World Bank IPF’s closing date in mid-2028.

Amid delayed rollout, the World Bank assigned the project an overall risk rating of "moderate" and a "moderately satisfactory" rating for overall implementation progress toward achieving its development objectives.

In terms of achievements so far, the World Bank noted that this project trained a total of 28,941 teachers and school leaders from Regions 9 and 12 in Mindanao between July last year and April this year, through the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP), the DepEd’s training and development arm.