Through Ms.Imelda Borromeo, head of the PPDO economic development sector, I was able to get a copy of the Belgian Integrated Agrarian Reform Support Program (BIARSP Phase III) Technical and Financial File.

I learned a lot from it. It’s quite an important document. The Kingdom of Belgium first supported the country’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in 1995 with the Belgian Agrarian Support Program (BARSP). The first phase was succeeded in 2000 by Phase II which ended in August, 2003.

Phase III will be implemented for 48 months. It seeks to “properly integrate management and implementation into the existing relevant institutions in order for them to be fully prepared to carry on the work without external assistance.”

This document also says that due attention will be given “to convergence, coordination and networking with partners and other organizations, in order to optimize the impact of the Programme, and of similar programmes focusing on the same target groups.”

We remember that a week ago we were called to the Governor’s office to attend a meeting with two consultants and the head of the provincial DAR. They were talking about Phase III of BIARSP. The first key activity would be the six-month activity for the consultants to review all proposed ARC projects and to link them to the municipal and development plans.

This is, of course, implicitly saying that these projects were identified and proposed outside the provincial and local planning process.

On returning to the office, I was handed the training plan and budget for BIARSP III in Bohol. I summarized the activities and was astounded to find out that more than P2 million would be spent for orientation, consultation and negotiations, as well as skills training, for something like 2,000 participants. I calculated the cost to be about PhP900 per pax.

It will be interesting to find out comparable costs from the previous phases. Perhaps, at this stage, training costs per participant should go down with the LGUs absorbing part of the cost. In almost a decade, LGUs and other partners should have integrated some of the activities into their planning and budgeting. If this has not been done, the next 40 months or so will not be enough to make LGUs and other partners take most of the responsibilities after this phase.