State-run Development of the Bank of the Philippines offered to provide credit assistance to water districts, local government units and water utility firms to expand production capacity and explore additional water sources amid the looming onset of El Niño phenomenon at the latter part of the year, a top executive said Thursday.
DBP president and chief executive Michael de Jesus said the funding assistance would be channeled under its pioneering Water for Every Resident program, which was designed to support projects that would provide affordable water supply at the community level.
“DBP’s broad experience in bankrolling water supply projects would be a boon to our collective efforts to find suitable and sustainable solutions to address the rising demand for an important natural resource such as water,” de Jesus said.
DBP is the eighth largest bank in the country in terms of assets and provides credit support to four strategic sectors of the economy – infrastructure and logistics; micro, small and medium enterprises; the environment; and social services and community development.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration earlier raised an El Niño alert, which it expects to emerge by June and persist until the first quarter of 2024.