THE government is planning to launch an official development assistance (ODA) microsite, a senior Finance Department official said, in a bid to promote transparency about where and how the funds are being spent.
Finance Undersecretary Maria Luwalhati Dorotan Tiuseco told The Manila Times that the project, developed in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), would be rolled out before the end of this year.
ODAs are loans or grants aimed at promoting sustainable development and arranged with foreign governments that have diplomatic or trade relations with the Philippines or are members of the United Nations, its agencies, and international or multilateral lending institutions.
The Department of Finance (DoF), through the International Finance Group, manages ODA negotiations.
The DoF said that it, the NEDA and the DFA had agreed to improve coordination after identifying system bottlenecks. The microsite, it added, will help strengthen guidelines and streamline ODA processing with simplified systems and policies.
The agencies are also looking at streamlining, codifying and automating procedures for negotiating and utilizing ODA from bilateral and multilateral development partners. This includes optimizing and speeding up ODA implementation schedules across relevant government offices.
The country’s active ODA portfolio rose to $37.29 billion last year, up 15 percent from the $32.40 billion availed of in 2022, as the government pursued economic recovery and infrastructure development efforts.
This comprised 113 loans totaling $35.07 billion and 325 grants worth $2.22 billion, which were supported by 46 development partners and implemented by 132 partner agencies.
Japan had the largest share of ODA at 32 percent, followed by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.
The ODA included 13 new program loans ($6 billion) and 17 new project loans ($6.08 billion), parts of which were allocated to the post-pandemic business and employment recovery program ($1 billion).
The NEDA last week tagged 45 ODA-funded projects as “problematic,” noting that many faced major delays due to right-of-way problems, procurement challenges and regulatory compliance.
Of the number, 30 projects worth P1.3 trillion were said to be in the critical stage, while 15 projects valued at P743.41 billion were in the early warning stage.
Another 10 projects worth P488.91 billion are at risk of becoming problematic, the NEDA said.
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