EU issues fresh 24.5-million euro funding for Mindanao projects

The European Union (EU) has given the Philippines another 24.5 million euros (over P1.4 billion) in grant to support peace-building and COVID-19 prevention in Mindanao and help rehabilitate strife-torn Marawi City.

In a statement on Monday, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Secretary Carlos Dominguez III signed on behalf of the government the financing agreement for the EU’s Mindanao Peace and Development Program-Peace and Development in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MINPAD-PD BARMM) on Aug. 11.

Pierre Amilhat, director for Asia, Central Asia, Middle East/Gulf and the Pacific of the European Commission’s directorate-general for international cooperation and development, had signed the agreement for EU much earlier.

“Under the agreement, 5 million euros of the grant shall be exclusively dedicated to the recovery and rehabilitation of areas devastated during the 2017 siege of Marawi City, while about 3 million euros will be allocated for the BARMM’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the autonomous region,” the DOF said.

The project would be jointly implemented by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and the Bangsamoro Transition Authority within five years after the execution of the agreement, the DOF said.

“This third grant from the EU this year underpins this major economic bloc’s unwavering commitment to the attainment of genuine and lasting peace and development in Southern Philippines along with the speedy recovery of conflict-devastated Marawi City,” Dominguez said.

“We cannot thank enough the EU and our other development partners for their ceaseless support for government efforts to spell peace in Mindanao and enable the island to achieve its full growth potentials on the Duterte watch.”

In July, the EU extended two grants totaling 60.5 million euros to the Philippines, all for programs and projects also in Mindanao.

Since the PD BARMM would have a total cost of 35.1 million euros, Australia, the United Nations and the World Bank will also chip in a combined 10 million euros, the DOF said, adding that “other potential grant beneficiaries will provide the remaining 600,000 euros.”

Separately, the Department of Budget and Management last month released a total of P355.7 million for three projects related to Marawi’s rehabilitation, including a halal slaughterhouse. INQ