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MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has officially abandoned its $88.28-million loan from the World Bank (WB) to fund the modernization of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) after the project faced multiple delays amid legal obstacles.
In a restructuring document, the Washington-based letter said the Department of Finance (DOF) requested the cancellation of the loan for the Philippine Customs Modernization Project (PCMP) in a letter dated Nov. 7.
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The WB said the PCMP was “no longer viable,” adding that the project had suffered from “multi-faceted delays” while overall implementation progress was “unsatisfactory.”
The concessional financing was approved in October 2020, with the government shouldering the remaining $16.1 million needed for the project. —Ian Nicolas P. Cigaral