ADB OKs additional $392.1M in loans, grants for post-Yolanda rehab

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday green-lit a total $392.1 million in loans and grants for the rehabilitation of areas devastated by Typhoon Yolanda, the strongest storm to make landfall on record.

In a statement Monday night, the ADB said its Board of Directors approved a $372.1-million loan assistance to support the government's Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) in areas devastated by Typhoon Yolanda.

Asked if the recently approved loan was what ADB president Takehiko Nakao referred to during an interview with reporters last Thursday, the Manila-based lender's Communications Specialist for Governance in Southeast Asia & the Pacific Karen Lynne Palmer said, “Yes, this is one and the same.”

“It was approved this morning,” she noted in an e-mail to GMA News Online Monday night.

The KALAHI-CIDSS is a community-driven development project implemented by Department of Social Welfare and Development.

It supports capacity-building of community leaders and social workers to identify, prioritize, budget, and implement needed projects like water supply systems, schools, health stations, electrification, roads, irrigation, and flood control.

The ADB said it has coordinated with the government and other development partners in the immediate aftermath of the Typhoon Yolanda to utilize the KALAHI-CIDSS framework.

“The community-driven approach is very effective for emergency and post-calamity situations because the people affected by disasters are the first ones to respond,” said Leah Gutierrez, Director of Human and Social Development in ADB’s Southeast Asia Department, said in the statement.

“They know the hazards of the area, and can assess whether the disaster response is the most appropriate and sustainable for their village,” she added. “Directly involving communities introduces greater transparency and accountability for the recovery efforts.”

In a separate statement also on Monday, the ADB said its Board of Directors approved a $20-million grant package announced in the immediate aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda and provided by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR).

The grant will support early recovery in 74 poor rural municipalities affected by the typhoon.

“This grant will help hard-hit communities prepare for large-scale reconstruction, ensuring not only immediate help, but greater resilience to future disasters,” Kazuhiko Koguchi, Executive Director representing Japan on ADB’s Board of Directors, said in the second statement.

“It will help establish systematic approaches, including those focused on building back better,” he added.

The newly-approved loans and grants were on top of the $500-million ADB emergency loan for immediate reconstruction and the  $3-million grant from the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund made available early this month.

Last Nov. 8, Typhoon Yolanda battered the central Philippines, laying waste to buildings and other infrastructure in its path and killing over 6,000 people. — BM, GMA News