The European Commission (EC)-funded project “Capacitating Civil Society Organizations’ Procurement Trainers, Observers, and Monitors”, begun late November 2006, saw its last three training courses completed in Davao and Iloilo in early and late July, respectively,  and in Cagayan de Oro in early August.  The Training Manuals have also been finalized and submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB), and all that’s left for us to do now is to complete the documentation and submit the final report to the OMB.

The last orientation workshop for The Asia Foundation (TAF)-funded project “Feedback and Complaints Handling Mechanism Phase 2” was held at the Mallberry Suites in downtown Cagayan de Oro in August.  PWI’s resident research specialist, Mr Anthony Septimo, presented the results of his evaluative case study of the mechanism at the Discovery Suites in Pasig City on 24 August 2007.  PWI is set to submit the final report to TAF on 28 September 2007.

Another TAF-funded project, “Development of a Research Methodology and Sampling Frame: Observing Changes in Expenditure Efficiency Arising from Reform Measures” (whew! what a mouthful), has wound down to a close.  The results of the Differential Expenditure Efficiency Measurement (DEEM) pilot-test were presented to Civil Society and the academe on 2 August 2007 at the UP School of Economics; the same results were presented to the public-at-large on 15 August 2007 at the UP Balay Kalinaw.  The final report was submitted to TAF on 14 September 2007.  Further pilot-tests of the DEEM tool are being mulled.