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29 April
 Consultation Meeting on the Economics of Climate Change
A Philippine national consultation meeting was held on 29 April at the Discovery Suites as part of a regional review on the economics of climate change in Southeast Asia. About 30 Philippine experts on climate change, agriculture, water resources, human health, ecosystems, and energy sectors attended the meeting. From left are Juzhong Zhuang, ADB Assistant Chief Economist; British Ambassador Peter Buckingham, and Neeraj Jain, Country Director, ADB Philippine Country Office. Read Mr. Jain's welcome remarks.
23 April
Finance Secretary Teves with senior ADB officials
 Finance Secretary Margarito Teves met with top officials of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday (23 April) at the Department of Finance in Manila. During the meeting, ADB officials discussed the $750 million 2008 lending for the Philippines and the robust pipeline of assistance being developed for the natural resources, environment and agriculture sectors. ADB says it is ready to assist the government in dealing with the current food crisis. To mitigate food price escalation, Secretary Teves sought ADB assistance for (i) irrigation facilities and their effective operations, and (ii) reducing constraints in the post-harvest supply chain. From left are Joven Balbosa, ADB Country Specialist; Neeraj Jain, new ADB Philippine Country Director; Arjun Thapan, Director General, ADB Southeast Asia Department; Secretary Teves; and Tom Crouch, former Philippine Country Director and now Deputy Director General, ADB Southeast Asia Department.
 21 April
ADB Appoints New Chief for Philippine Country Office
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced the appointment of Neeraj Jain as the new Country Director of its Philippine Country Office effective 18 April. Mr. Jain takes over from Mr. Tom Crouch, who was promoted to Deputy Director General, ADB Southeast Asia Department. Read the news release.
17 April
BIMP-EAGA Regional Environment Program Inception Meeting
Government officials from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines launched and discussed the performance targets of a regional technical assistance on strengthening environmental management. Urooj Malik, Director, Southeast Asia Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources Division was a co-chair. Read the Opening Statement by Tom Crouch.
16 April
ADB Supports the Biggest Privatization of a Power Plant in the Philippines
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has disbursed a $200 million loan to support the privatization of the state-owned Masinloc coal-fired power plant in the Philippines - which will promote competition in the electricity market and improve environmental standards. Read the news release.
16 April
Sec. Reyes at ADB Workshop on Clean Development Mechanism
 Secretary Angelo Reyes, Department of Energy, delivers the keynote address at the Clean Development Mechanism Project Development Workshop at the Asian Development Bank on 16 April. In his speech, Secretary Reyes emphasized the need for more energy efficient projects in the country. From right are Tom Crouch, Deputy Director General, ADB Southeast Asia Department; ADB Vice President Ursula Schafer-Preuss; Sibtain Fazal Halim, ADB Alternate Executive Director; Rolando Tungpalan, Deputy Director-General, National Economic and Development Authority; and Carmela Locsin, Deputy Director General, ADB Regional and Sustainable Development Department. Learn more about the Clean Development Mechanism Facility.
3 April
ADB Funds Housing Microfinance for the Entrepreneurial Poor*
Microfinance entrepreneurs now have access to housing finance under a pioneering program crafted jointly by the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The program is expected to benefit about 3 million microfinance entrepreneurs. Vice-President Noli De Castro, concurrent chair of HUDCC (seated center), led the program launching with (seated from left) BSP Officer-in-Charge Armando Suratos; HUDCC Secretary General Lucille Ortile; BSP Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla, Jr.; and Development Bank of the Philippines SVP Brillo Reynes, Jr. Also present were (standing, from left): Asian Development Bank Urban Development Specialist Florian Steinberg; BSP Managing Directors Leny Silvestre and Ma. Corazon Guerrero; Monetary Board Members Juanita Amatong and Nelly Favis-Villafuerte; BSP Microfinance Consultant Ed Jimenez; and BSP Director Fernando Caballa.
Banks which plan to participate in the lending program will be accredited by HUDCC and DBP to ensure compliance with the provisions approved by the BSP. The loans shall have an assigned risk-weight of as low as 0% (zero) when guaranteed by the Home Guarantee Corporation or a 50% risk-weight if it is not guaranteed. Housing Microfinance loans are eligible as alternative compliance to mandatory credit allocation to agrarian reform and other agricultural credit.The implementation of the housing microfinance program will be patterned initially on the design framework of the ADB-funded Development of Poor Urban Communities Sector Project, a government social housing and community development program.
2 April
Asian Development Outlook: Philippine Economy to Ease in 2008
 Tom Crouch, Deputy Director General, ADB Southeast Asia Department, presents the Philippine chapter of the Asian Development Outlook in a press conference with Ann Quon, Officer In Charge, ADB Department of External Relations, as moderator. The Philippine economy will expand at a slower pace over the next 2 years, following its strongest surge in 30 years in 2007. Read the news release.
26 March
Philippine Development Forum: Accelerating Inclusive Growth and Deepening Fiscal Sustainability
Government officials, development partners, civil society, academe, and business groups will assess progress, and identify constraints and an action-oriented program to support inclusive growth and deepen fiscal stability-two elements of PDF's theme. Tom Crouch, Deputy Director General, ADB Southeast Asia Department, headed the ADB delegation. Read Mr. Crouch's statement. Learn more about the Philippine Development Forum*.
17 March
ADB Microinsurance Grant Signing
 A grant agreement was signed on by ADB and the Government of the Philippines for a $1 million grant to the Philippines to improve access to insurance for millions of impoverished people, most of whom have no financial protection. The Grant is financed through ADB's Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, financed by the Government of Japan. Shaking hands after the agreement signing are (standing, from left) Jaseem Ahmed, Director of the Governance, Finance, and Trade Division, ADB Southeast Asia Department and Finance Secretary Margarito Teves. Witnessing the signing (seated, from left) are Kohei Noda, Financial Attache, Embassy of Japan; Lecira V. Juarez, Chairperson, Cooperative Development Authority; Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran; and Eduardo T. Malinis, Commissioner, Insurance Commission. Not in photo is Assistant Secretary Dolores Castillo, of the Anti-Poverty Commission who also witnessed the signing. Read the news release.
12 March
ADF delegates visit Metro Manila projects
 Takeshi Ohmura, ADB Environment Specialist, briefs participants to the third Asian Development Fund X Donors Meeting at the new ADB-funded materials recovery facility at Smokey Mountain, Tondo, during a whole-day projects visit, which preceded the main meeting of the Asian Development Fund (ADF) meeting in Manila. The ADF is an endowment used to provide grants and low-interest loans to some of Asia and the Pacific's poorest nations. This ADF meeting was the third in a series to negotiate replenishment of the Fund for 2009-2012, discuss means of improving the fund's effectiveness, and identify priority action areas.
6 March
Off the press - Philippines: Critical Development Constraints
The ADB Economics and Research Department released the first report of its Country Diagnostics Studies, identifying critical constraints to growth and poverty reduction in the Philippines and discussing policy options for addressing these constraints.
Read the highlights or the full report .
5 March
Grant to Help Philippines Implement New Tax Collection Methods and Fight Tax Evasion
The Philippines, with assistance from the ADB, plans to implement new tax policy reforms that will include improved collection methods and better prosecution of tax evasion cases. Read the news release .
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