Overview

As MCA-Philippines defines the projects in its compact proposal to MCC, it is seeking input from the private sector on:

• Best practices and experiences in projects similar to those being proposed by the Philippines;
• Ideas on how to leverage compact funds with private sector financing, trade, or investment;
• Opportunities and challenges facing businesses in the sectors which have been identified for possible compact projects.

MCA-Philippines and MCC collaborated on this first-of-a-kind effort to engage the private sector in compact development. It is part of MCA-Philippines’ broad, participatory consultative process with civil society and the private sector. A priority is to stimulate private sector-led growth that will continue to reduce poverty, create employment, motivate innovation, and stimulate trade and investment long after the Compact is complete.

Proposed Compact Projects

The following five projects, with brief descriptions included below, are entering the due diligence phase in compact development. Full, detailed descriptions of each project are available on the MCA-Philippines website.

Secondary National Roads Development ($191 million, USD)

Implemented by the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), this proposed project aims to improve the connections among the Philippines’ fragmented economies through adequate and reliable transport networks. From the large number of road sections that need to be improved and rehabilitated in the entire country, six priority secondary road sections totaling 309.5 kilometers, all located in the northern and central islands of the Philippines, are proposed for Compact-funded rehabilitation and/or upgrade to concrete.

Empowerment and Development Project for
Poor Communities ($140 million, USD)

Implemented by the Philippines Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD), this proposed project would scale-up an existing World Bank project that is in its final two years of implementation. Proposals would be invited from approximately 200 municipalities for grants that involve a cost-sharing arrangement between the national government and local government units (LGUs). The intent is to assist LGUs to increase access to basic education, health and nutrition, shelter, potable water, sanitation, electricity, and other needs. Compact funding is also proposed for the municipalities’ capacity building and governance needs. Prior to completion of these grant projects, operation and maintenance citizen groups will be formed and trained on basic technical operation and financial management of the completed projects.

Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Philippines ($227 million, USD)

Implemented by DSWD, 4Ps is a poverty reduction strategy that provides cash grants to extremely poor households to allow the members of the families to meet certain human development goals. Recipients must comply with some requirements, such as regular school attendance and availing of recommended child and maternal health care services. The focus is on increasing the human capital of poorest families (health/nutrition and education) based on findings that low schooling, ill health and high malnutrition are strongly associated with the poverty cycle in the Philippines. Compact funding would be used for (a) 4Ps cash grants to 172,488 poor households; (b) capability building for local implementers; (c) community building activities; and (d) community grants for health and education.

Sustainable Upland Watershed Management and
Productivity Enhancement ($43 million, USD)

Implemented by the Philippines Department of Agriculture, this project would create synergies between agricultural productivity improvement and environmental resource sustainability by promoting efficient and relatively cost-effective water impounding technologies. The Compact would fund (a) 170 small water impounding projects (mostly, dams) in strategic upland areas in 41 provinces; (b) utilization of impounded rainwater in the SWIPs for 13,000 hectares in rain-fed upland agricultural areas; (c) training of 9,000 farmers in basic leadership, technical skills, and agricultural production; (d) development of 500 hectares of a surface water reservoir for inland fishery production; and (e) development of 3,400 hectares of watershed area for agroforestry. The Philippines’ Small Water Impounding System Associations 4 (SWISAs), which are organized by small farmers, will operate and maintain each SWIP using irrigation fees paid each season.

Integrated Revenue Information System (IRIS) for
Sustained Fiscal Governance ($148 million, USD)

Implemented by the Philippines Department of Finance, this proposed project’s strategy consists of mobilizing information technology resources and undertaking procedural reforms to deal with the core problem of information asymmetry afflicting both fiscal management and tax administration. Among other activities detailed in the public project proposal, the Compact would fund an upgrade to the Financial Information Management System, simplification of Philippines Bureau of Internal Revenue tax forms, and a Citizen-Centric Service System to simplify Philippines Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs transactions.

Providing Feedback

Please complete the form below. Refer to page 4 of the RFI document for specific information requested.

Submissions are for the benefit of MCA-Philippines as it develops its compact proposal. Though your submissions are important, neither MCC nor MCA-Philippines will be able to respond to most of the submissions.

Please:

• Keep your responses to no more than 15 pages
• Use Microsoft Word for text
• Use Microsoft Excel for data tables
• Use Microsoft PowerPoint for presentations
• Use JPG for any digital photos