This page hosts information on development cooperation programs in the Philippines that have been completed.

Strengthening Public Private Partnership (PPP) Program

$26 million (2011-21)

The Strengthening Philippines PPP Program assisted the Philippine Government to create an environment that harnessed more private sector participation and investment in infrastructure to foster more inclusive economic growth and accelerate poverty reduction. The program was implemented along two tracks: (i) building a pipeline of bankable PPP projects; and (ii) capacity building for the Philippine Government to manage PPPs. Australian support was delivered through the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Key achievements of the investment:

• The program was pivotal in the establishment of the Project Development and Monitoring Facility (PDMF) that put together panels of international and local experts and consultants who helped develop and structure projects and maintain transparency in the PPP process.  Awarded projects such as the Mactan Cebu International Airport and the PPP for School Infrastructure Projects resulted in a range of better services now available across the country that have real benefit to communities and the business sector.
• Improvement of the PPP enabling framework, strengthening of the national government's institutional set-up and capacity in PPPs, institutionalisation of PPP best practices in government, as well as introduction of infrastructure investment financing and risk guarantee mechanisms.
• Supported PPC Centre build itself into a world-class institution, garnering citations that recognised the organisation's achievements in its continuous pursuit to produce a robust pipeline of PPP projects.

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Relevant links

• Philippines Public Private Partnership Center
• ADB – Strengthening Public Private Partnership in the Philippines

Building Autonomous and Stable Institutions and Communities in the Bangsamoro (BASIC Bangsamoro)

$7.3 million (2014-2017)

The conflict between Moro separatist groups and the Philippine Government was a major obstacle to development in Mindanao for more than 40 years. Human development indicators in conflict-affected parts of Mindanao were consistently below the rest of the country, with instability also creating threats to national and regional security. The cost of these conflicts was immense, in both human and economic terms.

Australia's BASIC Bangsamoro was a competitive grants program that aimed to support the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro between the Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and promote long-term stability and development in conflict-affected areas of Mindanao. To achieve this, BASIC Bangsamoro focused on:

1. Improving institutional capacity to implement the peace agreement
2. Ensuring the peace process is more credible and widely supported
3. Strengthening local mechanisms for averting escalation of conflict.

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Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BEAM-ARMM)

$92 million (2011-2017)

The program was designed to contribute to the alleviation of poverty and promotion of peace in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with a focus on the most disadvantaged, poor and conflict affected communities. The program contributed to improved access rates, reduced disparity in the performance of boys and girls, learning opportunities for children in remote and isolated communities, livelihood and employability skills for senior high school and out-of-school youth and improved management or governance of basic education system.

Major achievements under the four components of the program were:

• Component 1a: Early Childhood Education and children in Conflict – Supported the development and implementation of a government-recognised and refined tahderiyyah (Islamic Kindergarten) curriculum to prepare 3-6 year old children for school.
• Component 1b: Basic Education Improvement – Provided support to Department of Education of ARMM mainly aimed at improving education sector and school leadership and governance; teacher and teaching quality; school facilities and learning/teaching materials; and accreditation and assistance mechanisms for madaris.
• Component 2: School Health and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) – Promoted healthy habits in school to reduce absenteeism including installing almost 2,000 handwashing facilities in schools across ARMM.
• Component 3: Technical and Vocational Education and Training – Supported the improvement of livelihood and employment opportunities of senior high school children and out of school youth.
• Component 4: Alternative Delivery Model of Education – Provided quality basic Kinder and elementary education to children in communities with difficult or no access to public schools.

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Sustaining Education Reform Gains (SERG) Project

$5 million (2019-2023)

The Sustaining Education Reform Gains (SERG) Project delivered targeted technical assistance to strengthen the capacity of the Philippine Department of Education. This included technical assistance to implement effective teacher professional development, to support the National Educators' Academy of the Philippines' (NEAP) transformation, and to enhance the learning and development system for teachers and school heads. It established functional teachers learning and development systems in 60 pilot schools, and improved the capacity of over 2,500 teachers and education administrators. SERG also improved the capacity of NEAP and 10 targeted Department of Education subnational offices to align with priorities and needs of teachers through monitoring, evaluation and improvement of teacher development policies, and processes. Implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, SERG ably responded to immediate needs contributing to the implementation of learning continuity measures.

Basic Education Sector Transformation (BEST) program

$104 million (2010-2019)

Australia's Basic Education Sector Transformation (BEST) Program in the Philippines contributed to some of the most significant education reforms of the Philippine Department of Education (DepEd) in decades. The program's overall goal was to transform the quality of Filipino graduates and contribute to long-term economic growth.

The BEST End-of-Program Evaluation (EOPE) Study found that the most successful reforms supported by BEST included the expansion of the Philippines' basic education system through the ‘K to 12' program which added mandatory kindergarten and years 11 and 12 to the ten-year education system. The Study identified the five key reforms that underpinned the success of the BEST Program: professional standards for teachers; K-12 curriculum guides and classroom assessment; school based management reforms; the teacher learning and development system; and software and hardware to support education data collection and analysis. These policy reforms provided the necessary foundations to enhance the teacher professional development system and decentralised delivery of basic education.

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A Future that Works

$1.2 million (2020-22)

The A Future That Works Project supported key industries in the Philippines with workforce development initiatives to manage the challenge of technological disruption. It facilitated collaboration among business leaders and with relevant government agencies through the establishment of Sector Skills Councils to identify and address emerging skills needs.

• Sector Skills PH
• Sector Skills PH Facebook page

Provincial Road Management Facility (PRMF)

$81 million (2009-2016)

Australia supported improved local government transparency and accountability for better service delivery to the poor through the Provincial Road Management Facility (PRMF). Upgrading roads is straightforward, but ensuring their upkeep is harder. PRMF worked with ten provincial local governments encouraging them to invest their development funds more in road maintenance and to modify the approach on maintenance. PRMF also supported the Department of Interior and Local Government to improve its current systems and tools, helping it to be more efficient in monitoring and supporting local government units for good local road management.

With the support of the facility:

• all ten provinces now spend more of their own funds on maintaining core provincial roads due to improved local road management, with increased spending averaging more than 35 percent over the life of the program;
• procurement structures and systems have been put in place in all ten provinces complying with Philippine Government procurement law;
• provinces have formulated and implemented multi-year human resource management and development plans to support local road service delivery; and
• local government units now have a Local Road Management Manual as a standard for local roads.

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Philippines-Australia Public Financial Management Program (PFMP)

$29 million (2011-2017)

The Philippines-Australia Public Financial Management Program (PFMP) successfully assisted the Philippine Government in implementing its roadmap for public financial management reform. The program focused on practical budgeting and expenditure management reforms, which provided the Philippine Government with the basic building blocks for a modern public financial management system.

Key achievements of the program included:

• Adoption of the unified account code structure (UACS) by Department of Budget and Management, Commission of Audit and Department of Finance. This established for the first time a single 'language' for financial information, which is the basic framework required for any useful analysis of financial data and the prerequisite for any other meaningful PFM reforms.
• Establishment of the Treasury Single Account (TSA). The TSA centralised the Bureau of Treasury's revenue accounts and enabled related improvements to its banking and payments administration processes. The TSA managed to generate savings of around $76 million in the first two years of its operation and improved government's visibility of disbursements and thus its cash position.
• Piloting the Budget and Treasury Management System (BTMS) to oversight agencies, with the expectation that it will be rolled out to spending agencies once it has stabilised. BTMS supports budget execution (budget management, commitments management, payments management, receipts management, cash management, accounting and fiscal reporting functions), with interfaces to the other critical PFM systems.
• PFMP worked with key infrastructure spending agencies and has:
  • assisted Department of Transportation to strengthen procurement, right of way acquisition, and planning
  • assisted Department of Public Works and Highways in the implementation of a financial management information system which was successfully rolled out to all offices of the Department.

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Philippines Australia Human Resource and Organisational Development Facility (PAHRODF)

$41.2 million (2009-2017)

Philippines Australia Human Resource and Organisational Development Facility (PAHRODF) contributed to a more competent and efficient public service by addressing the human resource and organisational development needs of select public sector partner organisations. In particular, it supported organisations whose mandates furthered the shared development priorities of Australia and the Philippines. Forms of assistance included: customised short-term training, mentoring, systems improvement, policy reforms, advisory support, and post-graduate scholarships through the Australia Award Scholarships (AAS) and In-Country Scholarships Program (ICSP). Following the conclusion of PAHRODF, the AAS, ICSP and customised short-term training continue to be delivered by the Australia Awards and Alumni Engagement Program – Philippines.

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