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Peso weakens ahead of BSP meeting

THE PESO weakened versus the dollar on Thursday ahead of the central bank’s latest policy decision and after the New York City government ordered schools to close again amid rising cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) there.

The local unit closed at P48.315 versus the dollar on Thursday, decreasing by 9.5 centavos from its P48.22 finish on Wednesday, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed.

The peso opened Thursday’s session at P48.25 against the greenback. Its intraday best stood at P48.245, while its weakest showing was at P48.33 versus the dollar.

Dollars traded rose to $692.3 million on Thursday from $635.8 million on the previous day.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the peso declined ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) policy decision in the afternoon on Thursday.

“The peso was weaker ahead of the BSP monetary policy-setting later today with possible reserve requirement ratio cut or monetary easing measures,” he said in a text message on Thursday.

The BSP Monetary Board on Thursday cut benchmark rates by another 25 basis points (bps) to bring the rates on its overnight reverse repurchase, deposit and lending facilities to two percent, 1.5% and 2.5%, respectively, effective Friday. This brings the central bank’s cumulative cuts for the year to 200 bps.

In a BusinessWorld poll last week, 11 out of 16 analysts had expected the BSP to continue its “prudent pause” at its sixth policy meeting. Some analysts, however, pointed to the sluggish pace of recovery and benign inflation as signs there is still room for the central bank to cut rates. 

“The peso weakened due to some market caution ahead of the BSP policy decision later today. There was also some safe-haven demand after New York City announced the re-imposition of school closures amid increasing COVID-19 new cases,” the trader said in an e-mail.

The US death toll from COVID-19 surpassed a grim new milestone of 250,000 lives lost on Wednesday, as New York City’s public school system, the nation’s largest, called a halt to in-classroom instruction, citing a jump in coronavirus infection rates, Reuters reported.

The decision to shutter schools and revert exclusively to at-home learning, starting on Thursday, came as state and local officials nationwide imposed restrictions on social and economic life to tamp down a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations heading into winter.

For today, Mr. Ricafort sees the peso moving from P48.22 to P48.37 versus the dollar, while the trader expects it to range from P48.20 to P48.40. — KKTJ

Duterte approves emergency use of coronavirus vaccines

By Vann Marlo M. Villegas and Gillian M. Cortez, Reporters

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte would allow the emergency use of coronavirus vaccines, which would cut the approval process for drugs approved in countries where these were developed, his spokesman said on Thursday.

The President would issue an executive order for the emergency vaccine use, which allows local use after 21 days, shorter than the usual six months required for verification, presidential spokesman Harry L. Roque told an online news briefing.

Mr. Duterte had also approved advanced orders for COVID-19 vaccines to ensure there is supply for the Philippines, vaccine czar  Carlito G. Galvez, Jr.  said at the same briefing.

He said the FDA was fast-tracking the approval process for at least three drug makers that seek to hold clinical trials here.

“The exploratory negotiations are ongoing so the 14 centers and testing requirements are prepared this coming December or January,” he said in Filipino.

Mr. Duterte last month said the government had funds to buy coronavirus vaccines, but it needs more so the entire population of more than 100 million could be inoculated.

He said he would look for more funds so all Filipinos could be vaccinated. The President said he was okay with vaccines developed by Russia or China. About five drug makers intend to conduct coronavirus clinical trials in the Philippines, according to the local Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

They include China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd., Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.

The FDA was now evaluating Sinovac’s application, FDA Director-General Rolando Enrique D. Domingo told an online news briefing in Filipino on Thursday. “It won’t take long before the clinical trials are approved,” he said, adding that the drug maker just had to submit some other requirements.

An expert panel from the Science and Technology department has approved Sinovac’s application. A separate ethics board must also approve the application.

“Only Sinovac has applied officially with the FDA,” Mr. Domingo said in a mobile phone message. “The others are still with the vaccine expert panel,” he said, adding that the FDA and ethics board were evaluating the application simultaneously to speed up the process.

He said drug makers don’t have to conduct clinical trials here. They just have to register for product approval by the FDA, he added.

In the Philippines have an advantage because their results would show that their drugs were effective among Filipino patients, he said.

8,000 DEATHS
The Department of Health (DoH) reported 1,337 coronavirus infections on Thursday, bringing the total to 413,430.

The death toll rose by 41 to 7,998, while recoveries increased by 286 to 374,939, it said in a bulletin.

There were 30,493 active cases, 84.5% of which were mild, 8% did not show symptoms, 4.7% were critical, 2.5% were severe and 0.21% were moderate.

Davao City reported the highest number of new cases at 110, followed by Laguna at 74, Quezon City at 66, Batangas at 54 and Manila at 53.

The agency said four duplicates had been removed from the tally, while 10 recoveries previously tagged as recovered were reclassified as deaths. Eleven laboratories failed to submit their data on Nov. 18, it added.

The coronavirus has sickened about 56.6 million and killed 1.4 million people worldwide, according to the Worldometers website, citing various sources including data from the World Health Organization.

About 39.4 million people have recovered, it said.

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III on Tuesday asked Mr. Duterte to issue an order on the emergency vaccine use to fast-track the approval process for coronavirus vaccines.

Moderna, Inc. had informed Science and Technology officials that it does not plan to hold clinical trials here for a coronavirus vaccine it was developing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario S. Vergeire said this week. The company claims the drug is 94.5% effective.

Pfizer, which claims its vaccine is 95% effective, also does not plan to conduct clinical trials in the Philippines, she said.

Mr. Duterte said he had spoken with outgoing Russian Ambassador Igor A. Khovaev and was told that Russia intends to set up a pharmaceutical company in the Philippines that will make the vaccines available here.

He said soldiers and the police will be among the first ones to be vaccinated, along with poor Filipinos.

Half-a-trillion pesos given to lawmakers’ districts — senator

A SENATOR on Thursday flagged almost half-a-trillion pesos of congressional district funds under next year’s P4.5-trillion national budget.

Senator Panfilo M. Lacson said the House of Representatives had allotted P620 million to P15.35 billion in infrastructure budgets for more than 200 congressional districts.

About 220 districts got more than P1 billion each, while the rest had at least P620 million each, the lawmaker said during plenary debates on the budget of the Public Works department.

The district allocations totaled P474.8 billion, Mr. Lacson said. “I am not blaming the department when it appears this way because practically, it was the congressmen who are responsible for this list,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.

Mr. Lacson also said there were 739 line items for multipurpose buildings that will get P1 million each in the national budget.

Last week, he said these were “rehashed” projects that remained unfinished even after years of being funded.

Mr. Lacson also said the Public Works department’s budget had “double appropriations” and overlapping projects.

A coastal bypass road project in Davao City was provided with separate budgets worth P1.791 billion and P4.049 billion, he said.

Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara, who sponsored the agency’s budget, said the separate items would fund different sections of the road.

The Supreme Court in 2013 ruled congressmen’s priority development assistance fund, more commonly known as the pork barrel, was illegal.

The lump-sum discretionary fund was given to each lawmaker to finance pet infrastructure or community projects that fell outside the scope of the national infrastructure program.

Legislators had also lobbied for a share in the budgets of crucial line agencies to expand the amount of allocations at their disposal. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Neophyte lawmaker declines election as a deputy speaker

A NEOPHYTE lawmaker has declined her election as a deputy speaker under the new House of Representatives leadership.

In a Nov. 18 letter to Speaker Lord Allan Q. Velasco, Las Piñas City. Rep Camille Linda A. Villar said she wanted to concentrate on economic relief measures amid a coronavirus pandemic and after past typhoons.

“It is an opportune time to work with my fellow congressmen and the leaders of the House of Representatives on policy measures that would give personal and economic relief to our fellowmen amid the past disasters and the pandemic,” she said.

Lawmakers voted Ms. Villar and two other new deputy speakers to replace congressmen closely allied with Alan Peter S. Cayetano, whom Mr. Velasco replaced last month after an ugly leadership squabble.

Ms. Villar is the daughter of business tycoon and former senator Manny B. Villar, Jr. She is also the leader of the 44-strong House Nacionalista Party, to which Mr. Cayetano belongs.

She was one of the three lawmakers who received deputy speakership posts in the latest revamp at the lower chamber after Mr. Velasco’s election.

“Rest assured that I am committed to your goals as a partner in development and will support your legislative agenda in the formation of a Congress of the people,” Ms. Villar said.

Congressmen ousted Mr. Cayetano as Speaker at a session held outside the House in keeping with a term-sharing deal brokered by President Rodrigo R. Duterte that both lawmakers agreed to last year.

Mr. Cayetano had refused to honor the gentleman’s agreement, saying Mr. Velasco did not have the support of his colleagues. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

Nationwide round-up (11/19/20)

DAR ramps up distribution of individual titles to agrarian reform beneficiaries

THE DEPARTMENT of Agrarian Reform (DAR) on Thursday launched a project that aims to speed up the distribution of individual land titles to 1.14 million agrarian reform beneficiaries. “Many farmers who were granted lands under the country’s agrarian reform program have been waiting for individual land titles. Some have even waited for decades,” Agrarian Reform Secretary John R. Castriciones said during the the virtual launch of the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project. DAR will implement the P24.63-billion project, funded by a loan from the World Bank, across 78 provinces until 2024. It will cover a total area of 1.37 million hectares. Under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), collective certificates of land ownership were awarded, which need to be subdivided into individual land titles. Mr. Castriciones said apart from the land parcelization, the SPLIT project also involves capability building and project management, and evaluation. DAR will implement the project together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Land Registration Authority, Registry of Deeds, Land Bank of the Philippines, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, and the Department of Interior and Local Government. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Immigration modernization bill gets House panel OK

A MEASURE seeking to modernize, professionalize, and improve the compensation of Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials and personnel has hurdled committee approval in the House of Representatives. The committee on appropriations approved on Wednesday the proposed BI Modernization Act, a consolidation of several bills replacing the 1940 immigration law, also known as Commonwealth Act No. 613. The measure redefines the powers and functions of the immigration bureau, its commissioner, two deputy commissioners and other officials, and directorates and offices under it. It also upgrades the salaries of BI officers and personnel. House Deputy Speaker Rufus B. Rodriguez, one of the bill’s principal authors, said on Thursday the proposed law aims to make the BI “more responsive to the challenges and developments of migration and immigration, which require streamlining and modernizing the bureau and expanding its powers and functions.” Several BI officers and employees have recently been suspended and facing graft charges for an alleged bribery scheme wherein Chinese nationals were allowed to enter the country without going proper documentation. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

Del Rosario gets CA confirmation

THE Commission on Appointments (CA) on Thursday confirmed Eduardo D. del Rosario as secretary of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development. His confirmation was previously deferred thrice over several issues, including the department’s plans on Marawi City’s rehabilitation. “Not a stranger to equally difficult and Herculean tasks, he is also the head of the Task Force ‘Bangon Marawi’. The task force was created in June 2017 in the aftermath of the Battle of Marawi,” Senator Francis N. Tolentino said during the CA meeting. The Commission also confirmed the nomination of Vice Admiral Erick A. Kagaoan and seven other senior officers as well as the appointment of 52 other officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. When asked about military response on a draft Chinese law expanding its coast guard’s authority over the South China Sea, Mr. Kagaoan said concerns will first have to be settled through diplomatic means. “I’m sure those reports are being validated by the national task force west Philippine sea and issues like these are usually being handled first diplomatically,” he said during the CA deliberation. It was reported the draft law will authorize the Chinese coast guard to demolish constructions led by foreign entities in Chinese-claimed reefs. “Our duty is very clear — to protect the people and secure the sovereignty and integrity of our national territory. We will remain in the area for maritime domain awareness and maritime presence,” he said. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Regional Updates (11/19/20)

Police, NBI asked to go after scammers using typhoon victims

A lawmaker on Thursday asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Philippine National Police (PNP) to go after people organizing bogus donation drives supposedly to assist victims of typhoons that recently pummeled many areas in Luzon. Samar 1st District Rep. Edgar Mary S. Sarmiento, chair of the House transport committee, made the call as he reported that a group claiming to represent his office has been “asking money from friends, supporters and even businessmen from the transport industry purportedly as part of his fund-raising campaign to help the typhoon victims.” He said the names of other politicians, entertainment personalities, and prominent members of the business community have also been used. “While we are appealing for help for tens of thousands of families who lost their homes, properties and the lives of their loved ones, we should make sure that our donations do not end up in the hands of these unscrupulous syndicates who are preying on the misfortunes of other people,” he said. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

2,800 Marawi families still in temporary shelters

AROUND 2,800 families displaced by the Marawi siege are still living in temporary housing three years after it ended, according to Senator Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel, citing data from the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD). Ms. Hontivero-Baraquel on Thursday sponsored the P5.448 billion budget of the department for 2021. Of this, P415 million will fund DHSUD’s operations and P2 billion for the National Housing Authority (NHA), among other attached agencies. The senator said the DHSUD had targeted to provide a total of 4,800 transitory housing, but was only able to complete 2,800. She noted all those residing in the temporary shelters are provided regular assistance. “The secretary (of DHSUD) says the accomplishment rate, as of today, ay nandun sa mga (is at) 20-30% with the balance scheduled to be completed by December 2021,” she also said. She added the department is working to complete 2,000 permanent housing by Dec. 2020. The five-month conflict in Marawi City that started in May 2017, displaced at least 200,000 individuals, according to a United Nations report. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

PHL recovery to lag Asia Pacific

ASIA-PACIFIC economies will likely lead the global recovery in 2021, with the Philippines viewed as a laggard due to the outsized impact of the coronavirus on the economy, according to Moody’s Analytics.

In a note issued Thursday, Steven Cochrane, Chief Asia-Pacific Economist at Moody’s Analytics, said the Philippines and India will have the “deepest holes to climb out of” in the region due to the extent of the damage done to their economies.

“The daily number of cases in the Philippines has come down from its peak in mid-August but has remained stable at a still uncomfortable level over 1,000 per day. So renewed investment into the Philippines likely will be delayed until there is further control and quarantines are eliminated or at least minimized,” Mr. Cochrane said in an e-mail to BusinessWorld.

Earlier this month, Moody’s Analytics revised its growth outlook for the Philippines to 6.2% from 7.8% to reflect a slower recovery due to the smaller-than-expected fiscal response to the crisis. For 2020, it expects gross domestic product to contract by 8.2%.

Better control over the pandemic, a gradual easing of restrictions, and improving trade makes the region’s recovery prospects more attractive than elsewhere, Mr. Cochrane said. However, some economies may not perform up to the regional standard.

“While it is easy to illustrate the region’s ability to contain the pandemic, there are local clusters that illustrate remaining risk within the region,” he said.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections in the Philippines totaled 412,097 as of Wednesday, according to the Department of Health. The country has the second most number of cases in Southeast Asia following Indonesia with more than 478,000 cases.

By 2021, emerging markets in the region may benefit from more investment, assuming COVID-19 is better handled, and emerging markets in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa continue to struggle with the economic consequences of the pandemic, Mr. Cochrane said.

Foreign direct investment into the Philippines rose on a year-on-year basis for a fourth consecutive month in August. Inflows during that month came in at $637 million, up 46.9% from a year earlier, according to the central bank.

However, net inflows dropped 5.6% year on year to $4.432 billion in the eight months to August.

To support growth prospects in 2021, Mr. Cochrane said resuming the infrastructure program will be helpful and will also boost employment in the near-term as long as social distancing measures are put in place.

“Once new cases go from the thousands to perhaps only double digits, work quickly to arrange travel lanes for business travelers and tourists from the largest sources of visitors, such as China, where the pandemic is under control,” Mr. Cochrane said. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

DoF’s Dominguez calls for ‘aggressive’ action to mitigate climate change

PHILSTAR/MICHAEL VARCAS

FINANCE Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III asked the Climate Change Commission (CCC) to be more aggressive in mitigating the impact of climate change, in the wake of consecutive calamities that have set back the economy even further while it is still dealing with the pandemic.

Five typhoons hit the Philippines this quarter, costing the economy P90 billion in lost output, the equivalent of reducing gross domestic product by 0.15 percentage points, according to initial estimates issued by the National Economic and Development Authority.

“Severe weather events inflict human, social, and economic costs on the Filipino people. We lose billions every year in damage to crops and infrastructure. These mounting losses dampen our overall economic progress. These costs will continue to accumulate unless we move fast on mitigation measures,” Mr. Dominguez said in a webinar arranged by the CCC Thursday for Climate Change Consciousness Week.

“I challenge the Climate Change Commission to more aggressively advocate for the protection of our environment. It should advance concrete policy proposals while building public awareness and public support,” he added.

The CCC is the government’s main policy-making body for coordinating, monitoring and aligning government programs with the goal of reducing climate change.

Mr. Dominguez backed “climate justice” within the international community, noting that the Philippines continued to be among those most severely affected by natural disasters intensified by climate change, even though it maintains a small carbon footprint compared to developed countries.

He said advanced economies should lead the global effort to trim carbon emissions.

“Even as we transition to more sustainable economic activities domestically, the Philippines must sustain calls for broader climate justice. President (Rodrigo R.) Duterte has already led the way. We in government must stand firmly behind the President in this fight,” he said.

Mr. Dominguez also stressed the need for better cooperation between national and local agencies to ensure more effective mitigation and disaster risk reduction efforts.

“We can use the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) crisis as an opportunity to tailor our economic recovery programs to mobilize investment in domestic renewable energy, sustainable urban planning, and climate-smart agriculture,” he said.

“Our rule should be simple: projects that are not green and sustainable should not see the light of day,” he added.

The Philippines’ top source of energy is coal, which accounts for 44.5% of power generated, according to 2015 Energy department data. Natural gas had a 22.9% share, and renewables combining for 25.4%.

According to the World Bank, the Philippines’ carbon dioxide emissions totaled 1.2 metric tons per capita in 2016.

The Energy department last month imposed a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants and allowed full foreign ownership of geothermal projects.

Mr. Dominguez has expressed support for a policy shift favoring clean and more sustainable sources of energy on the road to reducing dependence on coal.

The Philippines is among the most disaster-prone nations  in the world, according to the 2020 World Risk Index.

The World Bank estimated the country suffers P177 billion on average in losses to public and private assets due to typhoons and earthquakes each year. — Beatrice M. Laforga

Philippines commits to free-flowing trade in ASEAN essential goods

PHILSTAR/MICHAEL VARCAS

THE PHILIPPINES has signed on to an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) commitment to reduce trade restrictions on essential goods that help combat the pandemic.

The memorandum of understanding signed by Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez at the 19th ASEAN Economic Community Council Meeting on Nov. 10 hopes to reduce non-tariff measures and ensure information-sharing on trade among member states, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said in a statement Thursday.

Non-tariff measures are policy measures other than ordinary tariffs that potentially have an effect on the flow of international trade in goods. They include sanitary and price-control measures as well as border payment procedures.

Intended to ensure the continuous movement of essential goods across borders, the memorandum covers 152 tariff lines of medicine and medical supplies contained in the ASEAN List of Essential Goods.

Member states may still impose restrictions in cases of a public health emergency. Potential restrictions must conform with international trade obligations.

The DTI said that the agreement will help reduce export bans on medical goods in the region. Eighty economies had banned or limited exports of personal protective equipment like face masks during the early months of the pandemic, the World Trade Organization said in April.

The memorandum is part of the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework, a pandemic recovery plan that covers health system improvement, economic integration, and digital transformation.

The member states are also looking into expanding the essential goods list to cover food and agricultural products, DTI said.

“This action is a clear manifestation of ASEAN’s shared commitment in keeping markets open, ensure the unhampered flow of essential goods, and show economic resiliency amid COVID-19. We also see this as a positive development that will help the Philippine business community in trading with the region,” Mr. Lopez said. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Rice supply deemed sufficient despite typhoons — Dar

AGRICULTURE Secretary William D. Dar said the rice inventory is sufficient until the end of the year despite widespread crop damage caused by consecutive typhoons.

In a television interview Thursday, Mr. Dar said at the end of the year, the rice inventory will be good for 82 days’ demand despite the damage sustained by the agriculture sector.

“The current supply will bring us another 82 days’ worth of rice (starting) January 2021. After that, we will have new production that can be harvested by late March and April,” Mr. Dar said in an interview on ANC.

Mr. Dar said combined damage to the agriculture sector due to typhoons Quinta, Rolly, and Ulysses amounted to P12.3 billion.

“The three most affected regions are Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon), and Bicol,” Mr. Dar said.

As a result of the typhoon damage, Mr. Dar said the rice self-sufficiency rate fell to 90%, which means that 10% of rice demand must be sourced overseas in 2021.

“When you are only able to produce 90% of your requirement for rice, you always have to import the rest of that from other countries,” Mr. Dar said.

“That’s a given because we are not able to produce 100% of our rice requirement,” he added.

Asked when farmers can replant after the storm damage, Mr. Dar said replanting can start by the second of week of December, assuming no more typhoons for the rest of the year.

Mr. Dar said the Department of Agriculture (DA) has prepared almost P8 billion worth of agricultural inputs such as seed, fertilizer, and fingerlings for typhoon-affected farmers and fish farms.

He added that P1 billion worth of indemnification is available from the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., for insured farmers listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture.

The DA estimates that crop damage due to Typhoon Rolly (international name: Goni) is at P3.84 billion, with rice accounting for about half of the losses at P1.93 billion. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

SB Corp. sees 15,000 more small business loans processed by end-2020

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) plans to process an additional 15,000 loan applications for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) affected by the pandemic before the end of 2020, falling short of its initial target.

Senators expressed concerns Wednesday about the delays in the release of loan funds during plenary deliberations on the 2021 national budget on Wednesday. Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara said that only P1.2 billion in loans have been approved out of the P10 billion allocated to the department.

Under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan II) or Republic Act No. 11494, the DTI’s Small Business Corp. (SB Corp.) was allocated P10 billion for lending to MSMEs.

“With the improvement in our evaluation and approval system, we are now able to increase our evaluation capacity to around 15,000 in a month,” Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said in a statement Thursday.

“We have facilitated the processing to accommodate more MSMEs affected by the pandemic. We expect to release more loans to help businesses recover, especially as we gradually reopen the economy.”

The DTI said it has so far approved 17,167 loan applications amounting to P1.25 billion.

With the additional 15,000, SB Corp. would still fall short of its original target. SB Corp. in September said that it targeted 50,000 loan approvals over the rest of the year, or a monthly rate of 15,000 to 18,000 borrowers starting in October.  The Department of Budget and Management has released P8 billion of the P10-billion allocation to SB Corp. — Jenina P. Ibañez

US provides assistance for water security project

THE US government is supporting a P869-million project that will provide water security in Palawan, Negros Occidental and Sarangani.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide technical assistance for the Safe Water project in those areas.

“The US government is proud to support the efforts of Palawan, Negros Occidental and Sarangani to achieve water security,” USAID Acting Mission Director Patrick Wesner said in a statement Thursday.

“USAID will work with partners to maximize the use of data and sound analytics to guide informed decision making, identify lasting solutions, and prioritize investments.”

The project hopes to increase access to water and sanitation services, improve water resource management and governance. It will also capacitate local communities in working towards the objective of delivering clean drinking water.

The memorandum of understanding was signed by Mr. Wesner, National Economic and Development Authority Assistant Director General Roderick M. Planta, Palawan Governor Jose Chaves Alvarez, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose V. Lacson and Sarangani Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon.

The project will also involve USAID’s implementing partner DAI Global LLC as well as the private sector and non-government organizations, such as the Philippine Business for Social Progress, Water.org, Mahintana Foundation, Inc., Conrado and Ladislawa Alcantara Foundation, Inc., and the Foundation for a Sustainable Society, Inc.

USAID last month also provided some P170 million worth of financial aid to various communities to help them deal with natural disasters, such as earthquakes, typhoons and floods. These communities were located in Metro Manila, Northern Samar, and Maguindanao.

The US government has extended more than P1 billion in aid to help address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

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