Phl lays groundwork for fresh financial assistance from MCC

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is laying the groundwork for the fresh financial assistance it will receive from the United States’ Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC).

MCC is an innovative and independent US foreign assistance agency committed to fight global poverty.

It announced the eligibility of the Philippines for a new five-year grant from the United States to help reduce poverty in the country.

MCC country resident director director John A. Polk said the new funding would be less than the $434 million grant awarded to the Philippines in 2011.

Millennium Challenge Account Philippines director Ma. Victoria Anonuevo said the selection of the Philippines for a subsequent compact recognizes the significant progress achieved under the the current compact and its strong efforts at policy reform.”

Anonuevo noted this is the first time that a country with still 1 1.2 years to go in its existing compact was declared ineligible for a second one.

“Usually, MCAs are required to complete their current compact and their performance is assessed based on the completed compact,” Anonuevo said.

The current compact, amounting to $434 million, will end on May 25, 2016.

Anonuevo said the number of MCC-funded sub-projects has exceeded by 8.2 percent the end of compact target of 2,740 with a total of 2,966 sub-projects as of November this year.

The MCC’s announcement of Manila’s eligibility for a second compact came four years after it awarded the Philippines $434 million to fund three major poverty reduction projects in the country.

Approved in 2010, the first compact provided the Philippines with $214.4 million for the construction and repair of 220 kilometers of Samar roads to improve access to markets and services for farmers, fishermen and small businessmen; $120 million for a development project that empowers communities by encouraging their participation in poverty reducing activities; and $54.3 million for the computerization and streamlining of business processes of the Bureau of Internal Revenue to bolster tax collection and reduce corruption.