RP to take another shot at US grant

By Michaela P. del Callar

01/06/2009

Despite being rejected by the Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) to gain financial assistance last December due to prevelance of corruption in government, a ranking Cabinet official yesterday maintained that the Philippines is still qualified to receive additional grants from the US-based government aid agency.

According to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, the Philippines remains on track to receive major grants for key development projects when it was

re-selected as Compact eligible by the Board of the MCC.

He said Manila will file again its compact proposal later this month.

“We are very grateful to the MCC Board, led by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and to the officers and staff of the MCC, for recognizing the commitment and determination of the Philippine government to vigorously implement good governance and to aggressively fighting corruption,” Romulo, in a statement, said.

He added the Philippine government was able to successfully address misper-ceptions about corruption in the country and that “this was a major factor in the decision of the MCC Board to rule in our favor.”

Romulo said the Philippines passed 14 out of 17 policy indicators or criteria that the MCC maintains and scored above the median.

Manila was given a failing mark by the MCC on the sectors of education, public health and on control of corruption.

But Romulo insisted the Philippines “missed the control of corruption indicator by just a hairline of 0.01 below the median.”

He said this was largely due to a change in the methodology used which failed to take into account recent efforts of the Philippine government to fight corruption.

“We have also enhanced our efforts to improve the public health expenditure indicators. The median score was moved up from that used a year ago,” he stressed.

Romulo said the Philippines is able to correct certain misperceptions, reinforce understanding of the reality on the ground, and highlight the resolve and actions it has taken to fight corruption and to improve governance.

“We are on track as we have also made progress in developing our Compact proposals,” he said.

The Philippines submitted six Compact proposals to the MCC Transaction Team last month for preliminary assessment, ranging from fiscal revenue enhancement and social safety net programs, to community/road infrastructure, coastal surveillance for fishing and agricultural access to water.

MCA-Philippines (MCAP), led by the Department of Finance, held technical discussions with the MCC Transaction Team last Dec. 1 to 5.

With additional information requested by the Transaction Team, the proposals will be resubmitted on Jan. 31, 2009 to commence the MCC peer review process, Romulo said.

“We take this as an affirmation of their confidence in our efforts to prevail. We also see this as a welcome challenge, in the context of the overall challenges we face in winning a final victory against corruption. We are committed to fighting this scourge,” the Foreign Affairs chief added.

The Philippines is currently an MCC Threshold Country, having been given in 2007 a grant of $21 million to fund anti-corruption projects after the government demonstrated its commitment to enact reforms necessary to improve policy and performance. The funding will end Nov. 21, coinciding with the weakening of the Philippines’ corruption score.

In March 2008, the MCC announced that the Philippines was already qualified to apply for an MCC poverty-reduction grant, known as a Compact.

As a Compact-eligible country, the Philippines can apply for a large-scale multi-million dollar grant for poverty reduction.

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