Fellow workers in the Government, Mayor Agda of Borongan City and Mayor Mergal of Salcedo (Eastern Samar), PSF Board Member Ms Yvonne Flores, UNDP Team Lead Ma Folay Eleazar, TOWNS Foundation (led by Ms Alicia Morales and Ms. Ces Drilon), Dr. Decibel V. Faustino-Eslava, Dean of UPLB-SESAM (TOWNs Awardee 2025), CVF-V20 Independent Secretariat (led by Director Nazrin Castro), our partners for climate adaptation and resiliency actions, colleagues.

Magandang hapon, Maupay nga Kulop, at Maayong Hapon po sa inyong lahat.

[16 LGUs represented from Region 8 (in person), Almost 40 LGU participants,
Special participation of Eastern Samar State University, Federation of Women’ s Association of Eastern Samar (WA-ES), CVF-V20 Independent Secretariat (Nazca, Lem, Ian, and Alex), Gokongwei Group]

On behalf of DOF and Finance Undersecretary Maria Luwalhati Dorotan Tiuseco, we are privileged to welcome you all to the People’s Survival Fund Caravan for Visayas. We sincerely appreciate the efforts and time you are dedicating to this event.

Under the NAP 2023-2050, Eastern Samar, Samar (Western), and Leyte are classified as High Exposure (3 of 18) and Northern Samar as Medium-High Exposure while Biliran and Southern Leyte as Medium-Low Exposure. Visayas is projected to experience more dry days and more floods (extreme sea level flooding).

As of date, the PSF is funding 1 Full Project in Eastern Samar in Borongan City, and 5 Project Development Grants in Northern Samar – Bobon. Mondragon. Rosario. Pambujan. San Jose.

Of the 1.4 Billion pesos currently committed by the PSF Board, ₱127.96 million is dedicated to Region VIII (based on the approved proposals).

Through this Caravan, we are hoping to reach out to more project proposals from the Region.

We are privileged to implement this PSF Caravan with funding support from the Australian Government through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the Strengthening Institutions and Empowering Localities Against Disasters and Climate Change in the Philippines (SHIELD). The Department of Finance is leading this initiative together with the Climate Change Commission.

The PSF Caravan is just one of the initiatives of the PSF Board Secretariat to improve the operations and management of the PSF. This is intended to be a coaching and learning session to guide the LGUs on how to develop a climate adaptation project proposal that is fit for purpose (- na ang proyekto ay tutugon sa climate risks ng kanilang lugar batay sa sitwasyon at konteksto ng pangangailangan na may batayan sa agham/syensa (rooted in science and evidence); and that the proposal will be able to meet the requirements under the PSF.

Under the directive of our DOF Principals and the PSF Board, we are reaching out more to LGUs to listen and engage, hand-hold them not only in the PSF processes such as proposal development, but also in the implementation phase.

This is also in line with the call of our President for transparency, accountability and good governance, particularly in public fund management.

Every peso counts. “Every peso will be put to its useful use – growing the economy and uplifting the lives of our people.” Directive na po ni Presidente “to uphold integrity at all times and never turn a blind eye to corruption.”

We hope to share an impactful experience with you for the next 1.5 days. We have designed the program so everyone can participate actively and formulate project ideas. We also hope you can take advantage of the presence of our partners here today to consult, discuss and explore collaborations. We look forward to learning together with you.

Thank you very much. Maraming Salamat