The National Economic and Development Authority and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have rated two Japan-assisted projects as satisfactory in an ex-post evaluation conducted recently.

NEDA said the Fisheries Resort Management Project (FRMP) was given an overall rating of satisfactory, while Metro Manila Strategic Mass Rail Development Project (LRT2) received an overall rating of moderately satisfactory. The FRMP is a six-year project under the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) and was formulated in response to the issues of fisheries resource depletion and poverty among fisherfolk.

The project is designed to foster municipal fisherfolk participation in resource management and enhance government capability. Its estimated cost was Â¥10.4 billion, of which the JICA loan amounted to ¥2.4 billion, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), ¥3.8 billion and the local funding, ¥4.2 billion. On the other hand, the P27 billion LRT 2 project was one of the priorities under the Updated Metro Manila Traffic and Transport Management Plan aimed at improving the traffic condition in Metro Manila. It involved the construction of a new mass transit line with a train that could carry about 1,650 passengers. LRT Line 2 runs from Manila via Quezon City to Pasig City.

The joint study team used the five Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development-Development Assistance Committee’s (OECD-DAC) evaluation criteria – relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability. FRMP was rated satisfactory while LRT2 was adjudged moderately satisfactory. Both projects were consistent with and relevant to the objectives outlined in the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP). As for efficiency, FRMP and LRT2 were both rated satisfactory upon comparison of the planned and actual project duration, costs and outputs. The said ex-post evaluation exercise was the culmination of the three-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) between NEDA and JICA.

The MOU includes the conduct of joint evaluations of selected completed JICA projects; policy dialogues and feedback seminars; study groups for evaluation method development; and evaluation mechanism information exchange.