THE public-works corruption scandals have driven the Department of Finance (DoF) to assure the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that adequate safeguards are in place for projects funded by the bank.
Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto said agencies implementing foreign-funded projects are accountable and observe good-governance practices.
Mr. Recto made the remarks during a site visit to the Malolos-Clark Railway Project (MCRP) segment at the Clark Freeport Zone on Monday, saying he will not risk “the ADB’s trust” to ensure the bank continues to support Philippine development.
He said the creation of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure represents a government guarantee that every project will be properly engineered to endure.
Economy Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon has said that official development assistance (ODA) partners will be looking at how the government addresses corruption in flood control and other infrastructure projects.
The DoF said the MCRP segment was 42.4% complete as of June. Once operations start in 2028, it is expected to reduce the current three-hour bus commute between Malolos and Clark to just an hour.
ADB Country Director Andrew Jeffries has said that the flood control scandal will not deter the bank from supporting the Philippines, adding that its projects are also subject to close oversight.
After the visit, the DoF said Mr. Recto met with ADB officials including with Mr. Jeffries at the ADB’s Clark office.
Mr. Jeffries described the Philippines as a “particularly special and important relationship.”
A total of 25 Infrastructure Flagship Projects are funded by the ADB in support of the administration’s Build, Better, More Program.
The ADB is the Philippines’ second-largest ODA partner, accounting for $10.40 billion or 28.7% of total ODA financing as of March. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante