Philippines : Strengthening the Transition of Vulnerable Communities Affected by the Malolos-Clark Railway Project

Sovereign Project | 52083-007

The Malolos-Clark Railway Project (MCRP) will support the construction of two sections, totaling 53.1 kilometers (km), of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) connecting the regional center of Clark in Central Luzon with Metro Manila and Calamba, Laguna. The project will provide affordable, reliable, and safe public transport. It will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and cut travel time from Metro Manila to Clark from 2-3 hours by bus to less than 1 hour by rail. The project is aligned with the following impact: local, national, and international connectivity improved. The project will have the following outcome: efficiency and capacity of transportation along the Manila-Clark corridor improved. The outputs of the project will be: (i) output 1 - new railway line commissioned, and (ii) output 2 - institutional capacity strengthened.

Project Details

Project Name Strengthening the Transition of Vulnerable Communities Affected by the Malolos-Clark Railway Project
Project Number 52083-007
Country / Economy Philippines
Project Status Active
Project Type / Modality of Assistance Technical Assistance
Source of Funding / Amount
TA 9913-PHI: Strengthening the Transition of Vulnerable Communities Affected by the Malolos-Clark Railway Project
Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific US$ 2.00 million
Operational Priorities OP1: Addressing remaining poverty and reducing inequalities
OP2: Accelerating progress in gender equality
OP6: Strengthening governance and institutional capacity
Sector / Subsector

Transport / Rail transport (non-urban)

Gender Effective gender mainstreaming
Description

The Malolos-Clark Railway Project (MCRP) will support the construction of two sections, totaling 53.1 kilometers (km), of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) connecting the regional center of Clark in Central Luzon with Metro Manila and Calamba, Laguna. The project will provide affordable, reliable, and safe public transport. It will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and cut travel time from Metro Manila to Clark from 2-3 hours by bus to less than 1 hour by rail. The project is aligned with the following impact: local, national, and international connectivity improved. The project will have the following outcome: efficiency and capacity of transportation along the Manila-Clark corridor improved. The outputs of the project will be: (i) output 1 - new railway line commissioned, and (ii) output 2 - institutional capacity strengthened. The transaction technical assistance (TA), Strengthening the Transition of the Vulnerable Communities (STVC) Affected by the Malolos-Clark Railway Project will support achieving Project's output 2. The TA is financed on a grant basis by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR) administered by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is the TA's executing agency.

The objective of the TA is to help 1,250 selected households overcome their vulnerabilities associated with urban poverty and involuntary resettlement due to the construction of MCRP and achieve sustainable livelihoods by applying the Graduation Approach (GA) methodology. The TA will apply the GA traditionally applied in rural areas and now tested for the first time in an urban resettlement context with the assistance of 50 mentors. The mentors will be trained on involuntary resettlement processes and GA adaptation modalities to work with the affected households in line with the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) Livelihood Restoration and Improvement Program. The implementation areas cover the following eight cities/municipalities: Malolos, Calumpit, Apalit, Sto. Tomas, Angeles, San Fernando, Mabalacat, and Manila (Blumentritt). The TA consists of three outputs:

(i)Financial resilience and stability of participants improved. The

(ii)Urban resettlement baseline and monitoring system established.

(iii)Urban resettlement knowledge products produced.

Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy

The TA will assist the project affected persons (PAPs) to navigate the resettlement process and effectively access services and benefits under the project's resettlement action plan (RAP) and its integrated Livelihood Restoration and Improvement Program (LRIP). The TA will apply the GA to address vulnerability and improve resilience and financial stability of the communities resettled under the Malolos-Clark Railway Project. The TA will establish a system of mentoring by case workers (mentors) and develop an online monitoring system to enhance the resettlement intelligence and data analytics to enable targeting of tailored interventions. The online monitoring system will be used by DOTr to improve support to PAPs, and the data will be used to inform lessons learned and best practices. The online monitoring system will be turned over to the government at the completion of the TA to support their work in future resettlement projects.

The Graduation Approach is a multi-dimensional, time-bound, and carefully sequenced set of interventions that aim to graduate people out of vulnerability and into sustainable livelihoods by addressing the many drivers of poverty. It is a tailored and holistic approach to meet individual needs through targeted activities focused on livelihood and well-being improvement delivered by trained case workers (mentors). The approach employs tools for real time monitoring of PAPs' wellbeing and progress in stabilizing and re-establishing their living standards. The TA is innovative as it pilot tests the use of the Graduation Approach in the context of urban resettlement, and provides an opportunity to introduce innovation in to DOTr's approaches in their ongoing resettlement activities.

Impact
Project Outcome
Description of Outcome
Progress Toward Outcome
Implementation Progress
Description of Project Outputs
Status of Implementation Progress (Outputs, Activities, and Issues)
Geographical Location Angeles City, Apalit, Clark Special Economic Zone, Mabalacat, Malolos, Minalin, San Fernando
Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects
Environmental Aspects
Involuntary Resettlement
Indigenous Peoples
Stakeholder Communication, Participation, and Consultation
During Project Design

Consultations with project affected persons (PAPs) have been conducted during the preparation of the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) and the preparation of the Livelihood Restoration and Improvement Program (LRIP) for the Malolos-Clark Railway Project.

During Project Implementation Output 1. Financial resilience and stability of participants improved. The TA will provide one-on-one mentors to deliver weekly home visits to the TA participant households and conduct monthly group sessions for sharing ideas, experiences and lessons learned among mentors and participants. Status: A total of 50 mentors were engaged in by April 2021. The mentors were given orientations and trainings on the project-related themes or topics (e.g. using the tablet for computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI) processes such as the conduct of the baseline survey, involuntary resettlement issues, and gender among others). Output 2. Urban resettlement baseline and monitoring system established. The TA will adapt the Graduation Approach monitoring system to the project's context and develop an online monitoring system. Surveys and other modes of data collection will ensure that gender-based causes of vulnerability and barriers to sustainable livelihoods are identified, recorded, and analyzed. Status: The TA successfully conducted coordination meetings with the local government units from 14-30 April 2021 to introduce the project and generate their support. The meetings were attended by representatives of the local chief executives, ADB, DOTr, GCR, and PNR. The Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) system design was developed and completed during the M&E workshop. The M&E Manual is being finalized. A total of 56 tablets were procured in March 2021 and distributed to the mentors in April for the conduct of baseline and monitoring surveys. As of July 2021, baseline surveys are ongoing (through phone calls) after adapting to the COVID-19 restrictions in the project sites.Output 3. Urban resettlement knowledge products produced. The TA will produce a series of knowledge products to present the lessons learned and best practices. These will include: (i) visual training tools for government and mentors to implement the Graduation Approach in urban resettlement; (ii) communication and advocacy materials; and (iii) reports on the Graduation Approach and the testing of the approach in the context of urban resettlement. Status: The Communication Plan, project brochures and banners are being finalized for local communities' engagement. A project website is being developed. The project implementation was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The TA has taken all necessary measures to comply with the national quarantine regulations. In order to do so, the TA has a COVID-19 focal point / coordinator who develops activity-specific health and safety protocols that is in line with national and local governments' protocols and ensures everyone's compliance. This led to additional delays in 2022 to the TA implementation. The TA completion date was extended from 30 November 2021 to 30 November 2022 to complete all ongoing TA activities. A second extension to 30 November 2023 was granted to ensure completion of the TA activities.
Business Opportunities
Consulting Services Recruitment of a consulting firm was completed on 1 Oct 2020 when the contract between ADB and the consulting firm was signed. Consulting firm to commence services in November 2020
Responsible ADB Officer Vorpahl, Markus
Responsible ADB Department Sectors Group
Responsible ADB Division Transport Sector Office (SG-TRA)
Executing Agencies
Department of Transportation
Timetable
Concept Clearance -
Fact Finding -
MRM -
Approval 18 Dec 2019
Last Review Mission -
Last PDS Update 28 Nov 2022

TA 9913-PHI

Milestones
Approval Signing Date Effectivity Date Closing
Original Revised Actual
18 Dec 2019 20 May 2020 20 May 2020 30 Nov 2021 30 Nov 2023 -
Financing Plan/TA Utilization Cumulative Disbursements
ADB Cofinancing Counterpart Total Date Amount
Gov Beneficiaries Project Sponsor Others
0.00 2,000,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2,000,000.00 09 Sep 2023 1,413,625.15

Project Data Sheets (PDS) contain summary information on the project or program. Because the PDS is a work in progress, some information may not be included in its initial version but will be added as it becomes available. Information about proposed projects is tentative and indicative.

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Safeguard Documents See also: Safeguards
Safeguard documents provided at the time of project/facility approval may also be found in the list of linked documents provided with the Report and Recommendation of the President.

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Evaluation Documents See also: Independent Evaluation

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Related Publications

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Tenders

Tender Title Type Status Posting Date Deadline
Independent Evaluation Expert Individual - Consulting Closed
Independent Evaluation Expert Individual - Consulting Closed
NonGovernment Organization/Consulting Entity Firm - Consulting Closed

Contracts Awarded

Contract Title Approval Number Contract Date Contractor | Address Executing Agency Total Contract Amount (US$) Contract Amount Financed by ADB (US$)
Capacity Development Technical Assistance 9913 01 Oct 2020 NIRAS Asia Manila Inc.(PHILIPPINES) in association with NIRAS A/S() | 20th Floor, Wynsum Corporate Plaza, Emer Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Phils. Department of Transportation 1,792,069.00

Procurement Plan

None currently available.