THE Climate Change Commission (CCC) is confident that local governments, as well as non-governmental organizations, will be able to submit the requirements and meet the criteria for financing of various adaptation projects under the P1-billion People’s Survival Fund (PSF).
Assistant Secretary Joyceline Goco said she also expects all 13 project proposals, which were returned by the CCC, will be resubmitted by the project proponents, and will be fully compliant of the guidelines set by the PSF Board.
The project proposals were found to be insufficient in form and substance, and were returned with accompanying notes listing down the documents that the local governments need to produce and submit, along with the proposals.
Goco said local governments are expected to submit the documents that will support urgency and necessity of adaptation projects sought for funding by the proponents.
“All they have to do is use our template and submit the complete set of documents we ask them to submit,” she said.
Goco said that, while it will take time for local governments to complete the necessary documents for submission, the guidelines set by the PSF Board are not tough, and only aim to ensure that the funding will not go to waste or will be used in adaptation projects that matter most to communities that are vulnerable to climate change.
Renato Redentor Constantino, a civil-society representative to the PSF Board, also rejected the idea of reviewing the guidelines for now to make the fund more accessible to local governments. “No basis yet to say the rules are too tough,” he said.
Constantino said the proposals that were returned by the CCC were sent by local governments before the guidelines were released, explaining why they were not even delivered in the right format, and that the local governments were not aware of all the requirements yet.