DA-PRDP introduces ESMF, orients PMIUs of construction supervision

The Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO) 6 Social and Environmental Safeguards (SES) Unit with the Project Management and Implementing Units (PMIUs) in the region convened for the SES Retooling and Construction Supervision Training held in Iloilo City on June 4-6, 2025.

The three-day activity aimed to introduce Local Government Units (LGUs), that has entered into Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the PRDP, on the updated SES framework for Scale-Up Implementation and detail to the participating PMIUs the construction supervision needed to ensure the quality of work on PRDP subprojects.

National Project Coordination Office (NPCO) SES Officer, Roan Nuelan zeroed in on the contrasts between the Integrated Environmental and Social Safeguards Framework (IESSF), as the guide for implementation on subprojects under the Original Loan (OL), and the new Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) as the prevailing SES manual for the implementation of the subprojects under PRDP Scale-Up.

The IESSF contains four major frameworks namely Environmental Management Framework and Guidelines, Indigenous Peoples Policy Framework, Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy Framework and Grievance Redress Mechanism Framework. Whereas the Scale-Up ESMF includes Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts, Labor and Working Conditions, Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention and Management, Community Health and Safety, Land Acquisition, Restriction on Land Use and Involuntary Resettlement, Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources, Indigenous Peoples, Cultural Heritage and Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure.

Meanwhile, Roads and Bridges Specialist Engr. Frederick Agasen of the NPCO I-BUILD Component established the importance of how to supervise constructions during the implementation of subprojects.

“It is important to know the process in the execution of the construction so we could know what is right and what is going wrong with the implementation,” said Agasen.

Furthermore, focusing on Grievance and Redress Mechanism (GRM), Project Support Office (PSO) Visayas SES Specialist, Ryza Joy Elumba highlighted a more inclusive and accessible GRM.

As the gauge to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization as it provides important feedback (both positive and negative aspects of the project) to improve PRDP’s overall performance.

“Under PRDP Scale-Up, all kinds of feedback are welcomed apart from the complaints previously prioritized under OL.”

Elumba also pointed out the importance of GRM in a project.

“You cannot say a project is effective where there is no GRM implemented; and you cannot consider it effective if there is no accessibility in giving feedback,” she added.

The activity served as an avenue for the SES counterparts in the PMIUs to clear out queries relating to the framework and construction supservision.

The LGUs that took part in the activity are MPMIUs from Passi, Hinoba-an, Tapaz, Cauayan, Carles, Pilar, Sagay, Tapaz, Himamaylan and Libacao with PPMIUs from Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental.###