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The Cities Alliance, a Global Partnership Program
housed in the World Bank (WB) has extended a grant to cities in the
Philippines to help improve governance and delivery of social
services in urban areas.
Bert Hofman, WB Country Director
said the grant agreement was signed on September 15 and the League
of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) will receive $169,000 for three
activities:
• A review of the City
Development Strategy (CDS) program. The study will draw lessons from
the implementation of the CDS program that could be used to improve
local governance and strengthen the performance of cities.
• A documentation of an
innovative shelter management program by Marikina City which has
successfully housed its poor residents.
• The publication of the State
of Philippine Cities Report that will serve as basis for project
design, policy formulation and further assistance to cities from
their development partners.
Hofman said the financial grant
to the LCP is part of the World Bank’s continuing efforts to help
the Philippines, a middle-income country, achieve pro-poor growth
and development.
“More than half of the
Philippine population resides in urban area and about 14 percent are
poor. Beefing up the capability of city executives and managers to
meet people’s needs for social services and infrastructure
therefore offers vast opportunities for poverty reduction,” Hofman
said.
The Cities Alliance is a global
coalition of cities and their development partners committed to
scaling up successful LGU approaches to poverty reduction. The
Cities Alliance supports cities in two key areas: the preparation of
City Development Strategies (CDS) and citywide and nationwide slum
upgrading programs.
The CDS is a participatory
planning tool that aims to assist cities address the
pressures of rapid urbanization
including congestion and rising demand for basic urban services like
transport, shelter, water, sanitation and health services, among
others.
In 1998, the WB and the mayors of
several cities in the Philippines launched the first phase of the
CDS Program. After eight years, three CDS phases have been
implemented. In addition to the CDS programs, a project preparation
grant from the Japanese government supported a number of cities in
preparing city strategies and project feasibility studies. In all,
more than 60 cities have participated in the CDS activities.
Many of these projects were
funded through the cities own funds, government financial
intermediaries, official development assistance, central government
transfers and the private sector.
Phase 1 included Dapitan, Dipolog,
Lapu-Lapu, Olongapo, Roxas, Sagay and San Fernando City (La Union).
Phase 2 covered 31 cities
including 17 cities in Luzon (Antipolo, Calapan, Candon, Dagupan,
Ligao, Marikina, Masbate, Muñoz, Muntinlupa, Naga, Palaya, San
Carlos, San Fernando-Pampanga, San Jose, Sorsogon, Tagaytay and
Tuguegarao), nine cities in the Visayas (Bais, Bayawan, Bislig,
Cadiz, Calbayog, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Maasin and Mandaue) and five
cities in Mindanao (Iligan, Kabankalan, Malaybalay, Panabo and
Island Garden City of Samal).
Phase 3, which has recently
concluded, covers Baguio, Balanga, Cavite, Iriga, Laoag, Makati,
Parañaque, Puerto Princesa, Tanauan, Bago, Canlaon, Tanjay,
Pagadian, Tangub and Zamboanga.
--Darwin G. Amojelar
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