75 LGUs to get P13.33M to enhance water supply, sanitation services — DILG, DBM

DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. and DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman have expressed their commitment to the implementation of the Support and Assistance Fund to Participatory Budgeting (SAFPB) program during its launch on Wednesday, Feb. 21 in a hotel in Cebu City. CDN Digital photo/Niña Mae Oliverio

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) recently launched a support fund that aims to enhance water supply and sanitation services of municipalities belonging to the 4th to 6th income class.

On Wednesday, Feb. 21, the secretaries of DILG and DBM signed the commitment for the initiative called, Support and Assistance Fund to Participatory Budgeting (SAFPB) in a hotel in Cebu City.

According to DILG, SAFB aims to strengthen the ‘partnership and collaboration between local government units (LGUs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) in delivering basic services through the implementation of a participatory approach to governance.’

It also supports the president’s Open Government Partnership (OGP) which was institutionalized in June 2023 through Executive Order (EO) No. 31.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said in his EO that OGP is a broad international partnership composed of members from the national and local governments, and CSOs.

READ: Cebu Province passes ‘Good Financial Housekeeping’ from DILG

4th to 6th income class municipalities

The DBM allocated P1 billion for the SAFPB program and the municipalities in the 4th to 6th income class will receive a P13.33 million budget.

DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the ‘program is designed to help improve water supply and sanitation through the construction, expansion, and upgrading of water supply system projects identified through local participatory budgeting process.’

Meanwhile, in a slide presentation of DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. He said there are still 455 municipalities that are waterless.

As of this year, 340 of which have already graduated from the waterless category, and 115 have remained. Additionally, 88 out 115 LGUs are located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

However, Abalos did not specify all the names of those LGUs.

READ: PPAN Visayas presents plan to address malnutrition, food insecurity in 5 years

75 LGUs beneficiaries

There are 75 LGUs identified as beneficiaries of the SAFPB for the expansion, upgrading, and rehabilitation of their existing water supply systems.

These 75 LGUs passed in the criteria of a study conducted by the DILG, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), according to the DBM secretary.

The LGUs in Central Visayas that are included in the program are the municipalities of Albuquerque, Bien Unido, Dagohoy, San Miguel in Bohol; Tudela in Cebu; Zamboanguita in Negros Oriental; and Larena in Siquijor.

Sustainable Development Goals No. 6

Pangandaman said in 2023, the World Bank released a report that monitored the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in the country.

The sixth SDG highlights clean water and sanitation, and the DBM secretary said the report showed the gap that would need to be fulfilled to achieve the passing grade in the sixth SDG.

“Tayo po doon parang red pa po tayo. Marami pa pong lugar sa atin ang wala pang patubig o access sa water. Tapos pinakita po doon ang talagang mas wala pa ay ‘yung fourth to sixth class municipalities,” Pangandaman told the media in a press conference after the program launch.

(We there it seems we are also red. There are a lot of our places that have no water or access to water. After it was showed there that there were really fourth to sixth class municipalities who really have nothing.)

The report has motivated DBM to create a project in collaboration with CSOs to identify the focus of the budget that would create an impact.

Abalos also called the help of the officials from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the LGUs water project implementation.

Projected milestones of SAFPB

In March to April this year, the government agencies will be working on the requirements and necessary documents for the program.

They are targeting to release the fund to the 75 LGUs in May, and in June to July the procurement process.

They also projected to implement the project starting July this year to November next year, and eyed to complete the project no later than December 31, 2025.

The LGU must record the SAFPB fund as Trust Fund, and inform the DILG within 30 days that they have already received the funds and transferred it to the Trust Fund Account.

Moreover, the LGU will revert the unutilized or undisbursed fund to the Bureau of Treasury (BTr), and notify the DILG of any fund reversion.

The program launch on Wednesday was also attended by the chief executives of the selected LGUs in the Philippines. The DBM secretary had multiple engagements with the LGUs in Cebu City on Wednesday; hence, the venue of the program launch.