Philippines Accelerated Water and Sanitation Project in Selected Areas (AWSPSA) (WB-P510359)

Regions
  • East Asia and Pacific
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Philippines
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Bohol; Surigao del Norte; Sulu
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • World Bank (WB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
A
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Jul 31, 2026
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Government of the Philippines - Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH); and other
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Law and Government
  • Water and Sanitation
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 250.87 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 268.62 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ WB website

Updated in EWS Sep 22, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Jun 5, 2025


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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the objective of this project is to increase access to safely managed water supply and sanitation services and improve the performance of water service providers in selected areas of the Philippines.

The proposed AWSPSA will constitute a US$268.85 million Investment Project Financing (IPF) operation financed by a US$250.89 million IBRD loan, US$13.53 million counterpart funds, and US$4.4 million private capital. The AWSPSA will also support the implementation of sector policy reforms included in the 2025-2026 Energy Transition and Climate Resilience Development Policy Loan (ETCR DPL). The project design envisages a five-year implementation period and will comprise five components as follows:

Component 1. Infrastructure Investments for Safe and Climate Resilient Water Supply Services
Subcomponent 1a. Water Supply Infrastructure Investments in the Loboc Cluster, Bohol Province.
Subcomponent 1b. Water Supply Infrastructure Investments in Siargao Island in Surigao del Norte Province.
Subcomponent 1c. Water Supply Infrastructure Investments in Jolo and adjacent Barangays in Indanan and Patikul in Sulu Province.

Component 2. Infrastructure Investments for Safe and Climate Resilient Sanitation and WASH Services in Institutions.
Subcomponent 2a. Sanitation and WASH in Bohol.
Subcomponent 2b. Sanitation and WASH in Siargao, Surigao del Norte.
Subcomponent 2c. Sanitation and WASH in Jolo, Sulu.

Component 3. Institutional Reforms and Capacity Building

Component 4. Project Management and Technical Assistance
Subcomponent 4a Project Management.
Subcomponent 4b. Technical Assistance (TA).

Component 5. Contingent Emergency Response Component

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

The nature of the project and the scope of civil works present substantial E&S risks and impacts. These include (a) loss of vegetation due to tree cutting; (b) source contamination due to construction activities affecting health and safety of downstream riparians; (c) forest land diversion for laying transmission mains, construction of storage reservoirs; (d) OHS risks on communities during construction of distribution network; (e) air/water/soil pollution due to the civil works including debris disposal; (f) impacts due to siting of septage treatment facilities and operation stage impacts such as odor and quality of effluents; and (g) contamination of ground and/or surface water due to improperly designed facilities, etc. Considering the presence of Protected Areas in the project provinces, impacts on local biodiversity are also expected. Considering these factors, the environmental risk of the project is rated as “Substantial” at appraisal.

Similarly, social risks include, labor risks encompassing occupational health and safety concerns, and issues related to gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment. Additionally, there are risks displacement and temporary road right of way/access issues of households and businesses, as well as community health and safety concerns, i.e traffic and roads condition. Site visits and baseline information indicate that the project will not operate in ancestral domains, and no adverse impacts on Indigenous Peoples have been identified. However, specific to Bohol, risks to cultural heritage sites have been identified, i.e. heritage churches and convents. Contextual risks include institutional capacity issues at the LGU level and security concerns for workers in project activities located in conflict-affected areas, i.e. Jolo, Sulu.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Total Project Cost: US$ 268.62 million
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development: US$ 250.87 million


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

CONTACT POINT - World Bank

Task Team Leader: Ma Fiorella Delos Reyes Fabella
Title: Senior Water Supply and Sanitation Specialist
Email: mfabella@worldbank.org

TTL Contact: Aude-Sophie Rodella
Job Title: Lead Water Economist
Email: arodella@worldbank.org

TTL Contact: Midori Makino
Job Title: Lead Water Supply and Sanitation Specialist
Email: Mmakino@worldbank.org

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

To submit an information request for project information, you will have to create an account to access the Access to Information request form. You can learn more about this process at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/access-to-information/request-submission

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE WORLD BANK

The World Bank Inspection Panel is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by a World Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Inspection Panel, they may investigate to assess whether the World Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can contact the Inspection Panel or submit a complaint by emailing ipanel@worldbank.org. Information on how to file a complaint and a complaint request form are available at: https://www.inspectionpanel.org/how-to-file-complaint

How it works

How it works