With a robust pipeline of projects in Mindanao with the PRDP Scale-up, MIADP, and FishCoRe, the World Bank highlighted the need to strengthen existing systems for procurement, contract management, and accounting.

To support this call to firm up on existing institutional structures and fiduciary units, the World Bank Team conducted the “Technical Discussions on Institutional and Fiduciary Strengthening for DA Projects in the World Bank Pipelines” to ensure that their loan proceeds will be used towards their intended purpose.

After kicking off with an introduction of the main concepts for the technical discussions with a blended forum on January 9 at the NPCO, the World Bank team led by Co-Task Team Leader Maria Theresa Quiñones, Institutional Strengthening Specialist  Anna Pinto-Herbert, and WB Finance Consultant Tomas Sta. Maria flew in to Davao to meet with PRDP Mindanao team for more in-depth discussions which will run from January 11-13, 2022.

World Bank Institutional Strengthening Specialist  Anna Pinto-Hebert presented the “Guidelines on Preventing and Combating Fraud and Corruption in Projects Financed by IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants” where she emphasized the importance of identifying red flags in project implementation and provide solutions to mitigate their negative impacts to the entire project.

“We have to ensure that the loan proceeds will be used for its intended purpose for economy, efficiency, and sustainable achievement  of our development object,” Pinto-Herbert said. “We have to address any red flag that may arise in order to avoid more problems in the future that might affect the quality of our projects.”

The discussion focused on the importance of maintaining the integrity of the project by ensuring that no anomalies and corruption occurred as it affects the outcome and success of the project. The discussion also led to the sharing of experiences of participants when it comes to challenges on the ground especially on the procurement and bidding process for both infrastructure and enterprise subprojects.

With the coming in of more World Bank funded projects there is a need to review the systems in place to ensure that DA-PRDP is able to identify and avoid fraudulent and corrupt practices in its implementation processes.

In his opening message, PRDP Mindanao Project Director and DA-XI Regional Exec. Director Abel James I. Monteagudo echoed this sentiment and reiterated that the Mindanao Cluster’s projects with the Bank continuously promote global standards on civil works as well as inclusive rural development.

The presentation was followed by a workshop where the participants were given the chance to identify the different red flags that were present in a set of specific cases and scenarios and provide solutions to address these issues.

The participants for the first day of the week long activity were the component and unit heads of PSO Mindanao, BFAR Region 10, Regional Project Coordination Office 11. Separate sessions with LGUs, contractors, beneficiaries, and auditors will happen in the following days. (Joy Montecalvo, PSO Min| Photos by Leonard Asuque, MPO)