‘Govt must coordinate foreign aid’

Foreign aid for humanitarian and development purposes must at all times be coordinated with the national government using designated systems to avoid costly parallel structures and overlaps, the Philippines’ economic planning chief said amid mounting public debate over the controversial disbursements of public development funds in the country.

Billions of dollars in humanitarian and post-disaster rehabilitation funds flow into the calamity-prone country annually, the most recent of which came in the aftermath of last year’s devastating Super Typhoon Yolanda.