The Philippines and the World Bank have signed an $18.85-million grant agreement to strengthen the country’s defenses against future pandemics, while the Washington-based multilateral lender also commended the satisfactory implementation of an ongoing agriculture modernization project.

Documents showed that Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Frederick D. Go signed last Thursday, June 4, the agreement for the Pandemic Fund-Resilient Philippines Project on behalf of the Philippine government. The agreement was earlier signed last May 14 by World Bank division director for the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei Zafer Mustafaoğlu, acting on behalf of the World Bank Group’s (WBG) International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA) as implementing entities of the Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response Trust Fund, also known as the Pandemic Fund.

Unlike a loan, a grant does not need to be repaid.

The $18.85-million financing will come from the Pandemic Fund, which was established in 2022 to help countries strengthen their preparedness against future disease outbreaks.

The project will be jointly implemented by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Agriculture (DA), as well as the DA’s Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI). The grant-funded project is scheduled to run until end-March 2028.

The project aims to improve the Philippines’ capacity to detect, report, as well as respond to existing and emerging pathogens with epidemic potential among humans, animals, as well as wildlife.

Under the human health component, the project will strengthen disease surveillance and early-warning systems, establish a digital One Health dashboard, upgrade surveillance data systems, improve laboratory networks, expand access to diagnostic testing, support genomic surveillance, as well as enhance the pandemic-response workforce through training and database development.

The animal health component, meanwhile, will improve disease monitoring and digital surveillance infrastructure, upgrade animal diagnostic laboratories, strengthen genomic surveillance capabilities, as well as enhance testing and outbreak-response systems.

The project also includes funding for management, monitoring, evaluation, stakeholder engagement, as well as public-awareness activities to support implementation by both the DOH and the DA.

Manila Bulletin earlier reported that the World Bank approved the Pandemic Fund-Resilient Philippines Project last April 29 amid concerns that the country remains a global hotspot for emerging infectious and zoonotic diseases due to factors such as biodiversity loss, urbanization, wildlife trade, as well as recurring outbreaks including avian influenza and African swine fever (ASF).

The World Bank had noted that despite improvements in disease surveillance and emergency response systems, gaps remain in laboratory capacity, workforce readiness, diagnostics access, as well as the integration of surveillance systems needed to respond effectively to future health threats.

Meanwhile, the World Bank said in a separate June 4 implementation status and results report that the DA’s Philippine Rural Development Project Scale-up (PRDP-SU) continues to make satisfactory progress.

PRDP-SU aims to improve farmers’ and fisherfolk’s access to markets and increase incomes from selected agricultural and fisheries value chains through investments in infrastructure, enterprise development, as well as rural planning.

According to the World Bank, implementation momentum has strengthened following a recent midterm review, with continued progress in planning systems, infrastructure development, enterprise investments, and monitoring mechanisms.

The World Bank said implementation remains broadly on track despite challenges such as lengthy review and approval processes, procurement bottlenecks, varying capacities among local government units (LGUs) and farmer groups, as well as administrative delays.

The report noted that fund disbursements have accelerated, particularly for infrastructure investments, while project managers continue to focus on streamlining processes, strengthening coordination, and ensuring the timely completion of investments.

PRDP-SU is a $600-million investment project financing (IPF) approved by the World Bank back in 2023 and scheduled to run until end-June 2029.

To date, a total of $223.27 million, equivalent to 37.2 percent of the IPF, had already been disbursed.