The People’s Survival Fund (PSF) Board has successfully committed grant resources for five new projects across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao worth PHP 99,675,400 to help local governments address climate vulnerability.
To date, the PSF Board has approved a total of 21 local climate adaptation projects and project development grants, amounting to approximately PHP 1.421 billion. This shows the Marcos, Jr. administration’s steadfast commitment in uplifting and empowering local communities to adapt to climate change.
“I thank our hardworking PSF Board and the participating LGUs for working together to turn these projects into a reality. These climate adaptation projects are part of our whole-of-government effort to protect the most vulnerable communities from the effects of climate-related disasters,” Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto said.
The Department of Finance chaired the 23rd PSF Board Meeting on July 18, 2025, where two full projects for Pandan, Catanduanes and Tagum, Davao del Norte, as well as three project development grants for Basay, Negros Oriental, Claver, Surigao del Norte, and Rizal, Kalinga were officially approved.
The project in Pandan, Catanduanes worth PHP 86,162,400 will address the municipality’s vulnerability to storm surges and drought by implementing reforestation and climate smart infrastructure initiatives.
The Mangrove EcoShield Project, as the project’s first component, aims to address environmental and socio-economic challenges through the reforestation of 10 hectares of mangrove forest in six barangay beneficiaries. A mangrove nursery will also be established in Brgy. Balagñonan to support the effort and enhance local livelihoods for around 519 individuals from 10 fisherfolk associations and 5 multi-sectoral associations.
The project’s second component, the Climate-Smart Infrastructure Support for Agriculture (CSISA), focuses on fostering agricultural resilience. The project will reduce reliance on external vegetable sources and provide support to around 774 members of 15 farmer associations and 5 multi-sectoral associations affected by drought.
Key initiatives include installing solar-powered irrigation systems (SPIS), gravity-fed water supply systems, climate-adaptive greenhouses, and a learning center to address the municipality’s vulnerability to drought and enhance local vegetable production.
The project in Tagum, Davao del Norte worth PHP 7,513,000 will help address the municipality’s vulnerability to flooding through reforestation and establishing an early warning system.
The project’s Mangrove Habitat Protection and Restoration component will help restore 55 hectares (57%) of open and degraded mangrove ecosystems located in the barangays of Busaon, Liboganon, Madaum, San Isidro, and Bingcungan, which are severely affected by prolonged rainfall and strong wave action.
Moreover, the project is expected to improve the livelihoods of approximately 1,867 local fisherfolk who rely on healthy mangrove ecosystems for fishing and other resource-based activities.
To support this effort is the establishment and installation of Calamity Early Warning Systems (EWS), which will strengthen disaster preparedness and community resilience. EWS will be installed in the flood prone barangays of Apokon, Canocotan, Madaum, and San Miguel, securing around 36,084 households.
Three project development grants worth PHP 2,000,000 each were also approved to help project proponents develop a comprehensive project proposal.
The project development grant approved for Basay, Negros Oriental will support the proposal development of a project that will rehabilitate, conserve, and sustainably manage the Basay River and Watershed to protect the community against flood and rain-induced landslides.
For Claver, Surigao del Norte, a PDG was approved to support a proposal to design an innovative approach to address rising water levels and storm surges through Nature-based Solutions.
Finally, a project development grant for Rizal, Kalinga was approved to help address the adverse impact of drought on agricultural productivity through the construction of irrigation networks.
The PSF is a pioneering model for national adaptation climate financing, providing opportunities for LGUs to design and implement communal climate resiliency initiatives.
Present in the board meeting were Climate Change Commission (CCC) Secretary Robert EA Borje; Designated Alternate of the Chair, DOF Chief of Staff and Undersecretary Maria Luwalhati Dorotan Tiuseco; Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) Undersecretary Carlos Bernardo O. Abad Santos; Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Undersecretary Rolando U. Toledo; and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Assistant Secretary Ester A. Aldana.
National Resilience Council Executive Director Silvestre Barrameda Jr.; University of the Philippines Los Baños Dr. Juan M. Pulhin; and Gokongwei Group Head of Sustainability Yvonne Garcia Flores also attended the meeting.
