IN RESPONSE to the World Bank’s call for greater transparency and shared accountability, the Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project will launch “Bantay MIADP,” a mechanism that will institutionalize safeguards of project implementation against fraud and corruption.
This is in response to the World Bank’s challenge to implement the Institutional Strengthening Action Plan (ISAP), a strategic document designed to enhance organizational capacity, governance, and accountability, while mitigating fraud and improving service delivery.
MIADP Legal Officer Atty. John Dy Flauta, Bantay MIADP focal person, said the Bantay MIADP is a two-pronged approach that aims to warn, or ‘bantay’ (in Visayan/Filipino), all stakeholders against fraud in the duty to safeguard the Project’s implementation and fund utilization.
Bantay MIADP highlights key ISAP features, such as the detection of procurement and contract management red flags, in a way that is more understandable and resonant to its intended audience.
World Bank Task Team leader Maria Theresa Quiñones commended the Project team for developing the catchy idea of communicating ISAP to its stakeholders.
Further, she hopes that Bantay MIADP will contribute towards their shared goal of ensuring transparency and delivering quality subprojects in Mindanao’s ancestral domain.
“We envisioned Bantay MIADP as a battle cry toward a more inclusive and participatory mechanism for safeguarding public funds, especially those intended for the indigenous cultural communities,” said MIADP project director Macario Gonzaga. (Ereka Oton/DA-MIADP)
