Environment and Social Safeguards Monitoring Report 2009 - 2017 Project Number: 37749-013 Loan 2465/Loan 8238(OFID) May 2019 Philippines: Agrarian Reform Communities Project II Prepared by ARCP II – NPCO for the Asian Development Bank This report does not necessarily reflect the views of ADB or the Government concerned, and neither the ADB nor the Government shall be held liable for its contents. ABBREVIATIONS/GLOSSARY ARC Agrarian Reform Communities ARC Clusters Agrarian Reform Community Clusters ARCP II Second Agrarian Reform Communities Project CNC Certificate of Non-Coverage CNO Certificate of Non-Overlap CP Certification Precondition DAR Department of Agrarian Reform ECC Environmental Clearance Certificate EMB Environmental Management Bureau GOP Government of the Philippines IP Indigenous Peoples LGU Local Government Unit NCIP National Commission on Indigenous Peoples NSAC National Subproject Approval Committee (composed of representatives (Assistant Secretary/Director level) from Department of Agriculture(DA)/National Irrigation Administration(NIA); NCIP, Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR)/Environment & Management Bureau (EMB); Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH); Dept of Budget & Management (DBM) , Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) ; Department of Finance (DOF)/Bureau of Local Government Funds(BLGF) and Municipal Development Funds Office (MDFO) and National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) NGALGU National Government Assistance to Local Government Unit PAPs Project Affected Persons RSAC Regional Subproject Approval Committee (composed of Regional representatives of the DAR, DA, DPWH, DENR, NCIP and NEDA) This environmental and social monitoring report is a document of the borrower. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB's Board of Directors, Management, or staff, and may be preliminary in nature. In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. 2 CONTENTS Executive Summary Introduction and Project Overview Safeguards Monitoring and Evaluation Social Safeguards Performance Monitoring Occupation and Health Safety Grievance Redress Mechanism Conclusion Attachments 3 ATTACHMENTS Annex I: List of Provinces/ARCs/ARC Clusters covered by ARCP II Annex II: Project Organizational Structure Annex III: ARCP II Safeguards Manual Annex IV: List of Approved Subprojects Annex V: ARCP II ESS Monitoring Form Annex VI. Sample ESS Monitoring Form Submitted by LGU (FMR; Irrigation) Annex VII. Photo documentation Please add Photos of consultation, training, etc. 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Agrarian Reform Communities Project II or ARCP II is designed to enable agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) to reduce poverty and sustain improved incomes and quality of life. It aims at enhancing the capabilities and well-being of the poor and marginalized groups in 152 ARCs and 11ARC Clusters spread in 6 regions covering 19 eligible provinces and about 168 LGUs in the southern part of the country. It is an integrated and complementary package of assistance involving (a) community-driven development; (b) agriculture and enterprise development; (c) rural infrastructure; and (d) project implementation and management. ARCP II is funded from loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) amounting to US$70 million and US$30 million, respectively. Loan effectivity is March 2009, with the original project completion date of December 2014 and loan closure of 31 December 2013 for OFID loan and 30 June 2015 for ADB loan. However, due to the significant delays encountered by the Project, the physical completion and loan closing dates for both the ADB and OFID loans were extended first to 31 December 2015 and June 2016, respectively. It was again extended to 31 December 2017 for its physical completion, while financial closure is 30 June 2018 for ADB and June 2017 for OFID loans. As part of the Loan covenant, the DAR as the executing agency, together with ARCP II- National Project Coordination Office put in place the Environment and Social Safeguards of the Project. ESS Point Persons at the DAR national, regional and provincial levels were provided training and orientation by the ESS Consultant engaged by the Project. Thus, setting up the ESS system at the ARCP II. LGU partners were also oriented and provided with ESS Safeguard Manual and guidance in the preparation of safeguard documents. ESS Point Persons at the field level together with the MPDCs of the LGUs are part of the project team together with the Project Economist and Rural Infra Engineers, to ensure that ESS are not left out from project validation, preparation and implementation. Under the rural infrastructure component, there are 475 approved subprojects of which 333 are physically completed, with 142 still ongoing. These subprojects complied with the ESS documentary requirements from securing of CNC/ECC, CNO/CP and ROW acquisition. Though it was disclosed to the community and project affected persons their right to be compensated for their affected lands and improvements, most of the PAPs have donated the affected lands or executed quit claim in favor of the LGUs. It is their way of helping the LGU to meet the cost sharing requirement under the ARCP II. But there are also PAPs that asked for payments for affected lands and crops, especially those affected by new or road opening. The LGUs of Daram and Almagro in West Samar compensated the PAPs affected by their farm-to-market roads. Overall, the LGUs complied with environment and social safeguards in the implementation of their subprojects, especially in securing safeguards documents. The weakness is in the monitoring and reporting of safeguards implementation. The revised ARCP II ESS Monitoring Form was downloaded to the field almost third quarter of 2016, and was left out by the LGUs in lieu of ARCP II-related technical and financial documents and concerns. 5 I. Introduction and Project Overview Project Number L2465/8238-PHI: AGRARIAN REFORM COMMUNITIES PROJECT II and Title: Safeguards Environment B Category Involuntary B Resettlement Indigenous Peoples A Reporting period: March 2009 – Dec 2017 Last report date: First Reporting Project On 27 October 2008, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Background and OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) approved two loans key sub-project worth US$70 million and US$30 million (equivalent to P3.15 billion and activities: P1.35 billion, for a total of P4.50 billion), respectively, to the Republic of the Philippines to finance Agrarian Reform Communities Project II (ARCP II). The loan took effect on 4 March 2009 and is expected to be completed by December 2014. The Project was officially launched on 20 March 2009. Original project completion date was December 2014, while the loan closure dates were 31 December 2013 and 30 June 2015 for the OFID and ADB loans, respectively. The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is the executing agency (EA) with the assistance from different national government agencies (NGAs), local government units (LGUs), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and people organizations (POs) in the covered Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs). The government agencies include all participating municipal LGUs and DAR offices at the regional and provincial levels, DAR-ARMM, the CARP implementing partner agencies such as the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and specialized agencies such as the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and the NCIP. 3. ARCP II is designed to enable the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) to reduce poverty and sustain improved incomes and quality of life. The Project aims at enhancing the capabilities and well-being of poor and marginalized groups in 152 Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs) and 11 ARC clusters spread across six regions, covering 19 eligible provinces and approximately 168 LGUs in the southern part of the country (Annex 1 List of Provinces covered by ARCP II). 4. The Project goal will be achieved through the implementation of an integrated and complementary package of assistance involving; (i) community driven development (CDD); (ii) agriculture and enterprise development (AED); (iii) sustainable rural infrastructure (SRI); and (iv) project implementation and management (PIM). 5. In 2009, the following key activities were carried out: 6 Organized project offices, i.e., the National Project Coordination Office (NPCO) at the DAR Central Office, the Regional Project Management Office (RPMO) in 6 DAR Regional Offices (DARRO), and Provincial Project Management Office (PPMO) in the 19 DAR Provincial Offices (DARPO). Hiring of project consultants and staff, taking on board regular staff from DAR, and procurement of office furniture and equipment. Project Executive Committee (PEC) and the National Subproject Approval Committee (NSAC) and Regional Subproject Approval Committee (RSAC) were organized. These committees are composed of official representatives from the oversight agencies and CARP implementing partner agencies at the national and regional levels. The PEC approves the Project’s annual work & financial plan. The NSAC review, evaluate and approve rural infrastructure