Question & AnswerQ&A (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 102)
The purpose of Executive Order No. 102 is to create the Office for Official Development Assistance Absorption (ODA Absorption Office) to identify and develop solutions to problems in the implementation and absorption of Official Development Assistance (ODA) funded projects and programs in the Philippines.
The ODA Absorption Office is created under the Office of the President.
The ODA Absorption Office is headed by the Presidential Adviser on ODA Absorption.
The main duties include monitoring ODA-funded projects with implementation problems, developing solutions in coordination with various stakeholders, bringing critical issues to the attention of the President, reporting to the President and Cabinet, and performing other assigned functions.
Causes include budgetary constraints in counterpart funding, changes in project design and costs, procurement issues, right-of-way acquisition, disbursement and liquidation problems, project management issues, social acceptability concerns, environmental clearances, peace and order, and bureaucratic inertia.
The ODA Absorption Office is represented in meetings with donor institutions and government agencies, has access to monitoring systems and outputs of NEDA and project monitoring committees, obtains information from other government agencies, and maintains respect for the responsibilities of implementing agencies.
It grants the President continuing authority to reorganize the administrative structure of the Office of the President, thereby empowering the creation of the ODA Absorption Office.
Initial funding is provided by the Office of the President, while appropriations for succeeding years are included in the budget proposal for the Office of the President, with the organizational structure and staffing pattern submitted to the Department of Budget and Management for approval.
The ODA Absorption Office must observe and respect the responsibility and accountability of implementing agencies and project implementation officers to preserve their institutional integrity.
The Executive Order took effect immediately upon its signing on May 16, 2002.