WASHINGTON (via PLDT) – A US government corporation is ready to grant the Philippines higher aid to fight poverty and corruption, depending on the soundness of the government’s proposal for additional grants.
At a press conference with President Arroyo following their meeting, John Danilovich, US Millennium Challenge Corp. president, said they discussed the relationship between the MCC and the Philippines.
“It’s a relation we’re very proud of, very committed to, and very engaged in,” he said. “As you know, we have a threshold program that is being implemented very well.”
Danilovich congratulated the Philippine government for successfully implementing MCC’s threshold program.
The release of government counterpart funds for the threshold program showed the administration’s commitment to fighting corruption, he added.
Danilovich said he was looking forward to receiving the proposal for the Compact program from the government by next year.
Grants given to countries under the Compact program are anywhere between $110 million to nearly $700 million, he added.
Danilovich said the MCC does not put limits to grants, as this would depend on a country’s proposal.
“The MCC has no maximum amount,” he said.
“Each country has a different proposal, different requirements, overall development assistance and foreign aid requirements, and necessities that need to be fulfilled.”
Danilovich said the Philippines is a densely populated, culturally diverse nation.
“The span of compacts varies tremendously as their contents so we look forward to receiving a proposal from the Philippines that is solid, coherent, addresses the problems of poverty reduction and sustainable growth, and it is a function of those matters, more than it is a function of size,” he said.
“It’s not a matter of the size first; it’s a matter of the targets first and finding out how best to deal with those targets and arriving at the sum of money.”
Mrs. Arroyo said the Philippines is working on a comprehensive, extensive and systematic proposal for the country to qualify for the MCC compact status.
“How to go about formulating the plan? It’s going to be a consultative process so the first requirement was for us to provide the contact – the contact person who will be putting all these together.”
Mrs. Arroyo said former socio-economic planning secretary Dante Canlas heads the team preparing the comprehensive proposal to be submitted to the MCC next year.
The Philippine government is taking no chances in satisfying the MCC requirements, she added.
Mrs. Arroyo expressed hope that the government’s proposal would meet the standards of the US government corporation.
Crafting the proposal would be extensive and in close consultation with all stakeholders, she added.
Reconciling the demands and requirements of the country’s population of some 89 million is quite challenging, Mrs. Arroyo said.
Last year, the MCC gave an initial $20-million grant to the Philippines for programs to fight poverty and improve government procurement procedures.
The President ordered the infusion of counterpart funds. This year, Danilovich announced that the Philippines was eligible for its Compact program that releases much higher grants.
GMA assures Greens
President Arroyo assured yesterday world environmental groups that the Philippines would not sacrifice the environment for the country’s economic development.
Speaking during a luncheon with stakeholders of the Coral Triangle Initiative at the Crystal Room of the Willard Hotel Monday, Mrs. Arroyo sought to rally global support for the CTI to preserve the marine diversity in the Coral Triangle encompassing 7.5 million square kilometers of ocean in six countries, including the Philippines.
Mrs. Arroyo said that the CTI is “proof positive” that a sustainable environmental model not only is possible, but necessary.
“We are going to make sure it happens,” she said.
“I have held the deep conviction that the environment cannot take a backseat to economic development. There is no reason that job creation and a good clean environmental policy cannot co-exist.”
Mrs. Arroyo said in CTI’s case, the stakeholders and the government are achieving many objectives like providing jobs for the poor, introducing best practices to ensure sustainable economic and environmental models, and providing for a renewable supply of food for the world.
“Of course our efforts today, while laudable, are just the beginning. In a time of global uncertainty driven by high prices of food and fuel as we are facing now, it is all too easy to disregard the environment for the sake of economic expediency,” she said.
“When people go hungry, the environment suffers. The hard cold fact is that we must not be tempted as a nation, a region, or the world to abandon a balanced approach like the CTI.”
Mrs. Arroyo said it is good for Filipinos and for the country’s economic growth, as well as for the environment, to make initiatives like CTI work.
“Our people will only suffer more in the long run if we do not invest today for generations tomorrow,” she said.
A Malacañang briefing paper said the biological resources of the coral triangle directly sustain the lives of over 120 million people within the area, and benefit millions more worldwide.
Countries in the coral triangle boast the richest concentration of iridescent corals, fish, crustaceans, mollusks and marine plants in the world, the paper added.
The total annual value of coral reefs, mangroves and associated natural habitats within the coral triangle is estimated at $2.3 billion.
Tuna spawning and nursery grounds support a multi-billion dollar tuna industry and provide for millions of consumers worldwide.
Aside from the Philippines, the countries comprising the Coral Triangle are Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste (East Timor).
Both public and private partners in environmental conservation attended the luncheon meeting, hosted by the Philippine embassy in Washington, World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International and the Nature Conservancy. – Paolo Romero