Philippines : Implementing a Rapid Emergency Supplies Provision (RESP) Assistance to Design a Sustainable Solution for COVID-19 Impact Areas in the National Capital Region, Through a Public Private Collaboration

Public sector management / Public administration - Social protection initiatives

The proposed Rapid Emergency Supplies Provision (RESP) technical assistance (TA) will support the Government of the Philippines (GOP) in addressing the urgent and still-unfolding crisis resulting from the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the National Capital Region (NCR) and broader Luzon area. A large majority of the country's 552 COVID-19 cases (as of 24 March 2020) resides in NCR and Luzon. An extended self-isolation or 'enhanced community quarantine has been put in effect on the entire Luzon are of the country which includes the NCR and has mandated the temporary closure of many non-essential shops and businesses. The social and economic impact of COVID-19 containment through enhanced community quarantine, is felt most in these areas of the country.

The TA is intended to achieve the acceleration of immediate amelioration of the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 through socio-economic relief to the poor and vulnerable segments of the population. through equitable access to food and other essential supplies likely to prevent a speeding up of the COVID-19 caused disease spread in the most highly vulnerable households in the Philippines. The TA will have the following outcome: piloting a scalable public-private-philanthropic-partnership platform to provide food and other essential supplies to the poorest and most vulnerable and harder-to-reach households for improve ing the health, living conditions and resilience of the most COVID-19-impacted- households (CIHH) in the NCR. The TA proposal was discussed between ADB and GOP as part of ADB's overall response to contain COVID-19 on 20 March 2020. The Department of Finance (DOF) has confirmed the proposal and implementation arrangements.

The pandemic has erupted at a staggering pace and scale with 552 confirmed cases and 32 deaths (to date, 24 March 2020) in the country, with 30 of these deaths just between 12th and 24th March 2020. The scale of the disaster is deepening with 150 medical personnel newly placed under quarantine between the 21st and 22nd March 2020 with suspected exposure to COVID-19 patients. An extended self-isolation or 'enhanced community quarantine has been put in effect on the entire Luzon are of the country which includes the NCR and has mandated the temporary closure of many non-essential shops and businesses.

Quarantine restrictions have already begun to impact especially those households already at poverty level thresholds as well as informal, self-employed, seasonal and contractual workers, with a three-fold and interconnected impact: a) catastrophic loss in income (from inability to access daily wage earning activities), b) closures of many retail outlets reducing the ability to purchase low priced essential supplies (even if there were some savings), and c) limited supply of goods for the weakest sections with panic buying in bulk by the more economically prosperous. Further, for older age groups or with underlying health issues, who are at major threat from COVID-19 there is a further need for isolation which negates the possibility of using the usual cash or voucher schemes in such cases. There is thus a need to provide in the immediate term, at least the basic food and hygiene items critical to ensuring the health of such households, to allow for self-isolation, and to reduce the possibility of socio-economic tensions or violence as has been seen in some global cities already.

ADB will engage consultants following the ADB Procurement Policy (2017, as amended from time to time) and its associated TA administration instructions and/or staff instructions.

TA implementation will be carried out through both national and international individual consultants (6 person-months each). Individual consultants will be recruited following individual selection method, international or local advertisement, based on TA requirements. Consultants engaged in ADB-financed projects for similar services may either be extended or selected through single-source selection, subject to the satisfactory performance of the consultant. This arrangement will provide an efficient way to recruit consultants under the circumstances. Consulting services will commence in March 2020, to be rendered full time and/or intermittently until October 2021.

Procurement of goods and services (for output 3) under the TA will be undertaken by ADB which will coordinate with the EA on all aspects including composition of essential items and targeting identification for CIHH. All goods procured by ADB will be delivered directly (from suppliers) to the specified warehousing facility locations (under the DND) instructed by the EA. Such goods will be the responsibility of the designated government agency under DND for its custody until delivery. Warehousing, packaging and distribution of goods procured will be managed by the DND and the Philippines Armed Forces all the way to impacted Barangays; Barangay captains will also be supported in delivering to individual CIHH. As ADB will procure the goods and services (for output 3) direct payment method will be used to pay suppliers upon receipt by ADB of EA verified reports from a) deliveries to warehouse, b) deliveries to Barangay nodes, and c) deliveries to individual CIHH with d) ADB's coordinator (consultant) facilitating these reports as well as providing third party verification.

Procurement will follow the ADB Procurement Policy (2017, as amended from time to time) and the Procurement Regulations for ADB Borrowers (2017, as amended from time to time).