The Philippines will borrow $100 million (about P5.1 billion) from the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to roll out flood control and water disaster resiliency projects at river basins in northern Luzon and Mindanao.
A Jan. 27 document of the China-led AIIB showed that the Department of Finance (DOF) will borrow on behalf of the Philippine government for the integrated flood resilience and adaptation project 1 to be implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The project will be co-financed by the AIIB and the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB). The ADB will extend a bigger $211-million concessional loan while the government will shell out $79.9 million from the national budget to finance the total project cost of $391.58 million.
The ADBâs high-level technology fund grant will also contribute $680,000 assistance to the project.
The AIIB chunk of the proposed financing will cover the river basins of Abra in Luzon as well as Agus (Ranao) and Tagum-Ligubanon in Mindanao. Separate ADB documents showed that three other river basins will be included in the project: Apayao-Abulog in Luzon, Jalaur in Visayas, and Buayan-Malungon in Mindanao.
The DPWH project was aimed at reducing flood risks in these river basins while enhancing flood and climate change resilience in the surrounding communities.
The AIIB said its forthcoming financing âwill contribute to the improvement of the national flood risk management by strengthening the institutional and technical capacity of key governmental agencies, both at the central and regional level, and local communities, and by investing in the rehabilitation and construction of flood protection infrastructures.â
Specifically, the upcoming AIIB loan will finance strategic flood risk management planning; building of flood protection infrastructure; and community-based flood risk management.
The AIIB acknowledged environmental and social impacts of the project, especially among households living near riverbanks and flood-prone areas.
Once approved in December 2022, this will be the Philippinesâ fifth AIIB loan, and the second flood control project financing. The three other loans totaling $1.3 billion, for projects also co-financed by the ADB, were for COVID-19 response, including the purchase of vaccines, boosters and pediatric shots.
The AIIB, the World Bank, and the Philippine government have been co-financing the $500-million project currently jointly implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
This project would protect 1.7 million residents near 56 âpotentially criticalâ drainage systems across 11,110 hectares of flood-prone areas in Metro Manila. Upon project completion in 2024, these areas should be free of water within 24 hours after a major rainfall. (©Philippine Daily Inquirer 2021)
