US vows to supply RP food needs

WASHINGTON – The United States has assured the Philippines of a continued supply of food to help stave off a shortage.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap told The STAR the US Department of Agriculture was prepared to extend millions of dollars in new credit guarantees under its GSM-102 program to the National Food Authority to purchase farm products.

Early this year the Philippines used all $75 million of its GSM credit guarantees to purchase 72,000 metric tons of US rice.

The GSM program helps ensure credit is available to finance commercial exports of US agricultural products while providing competitive credit terms to buyers.

It covers credit terms of up to three years.

Yap said details of the new credit guarantee would be announced after President Arroyo meets US Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer at her Willard Hotel suite on Tuesday.

“At the moment they (US government) don’t want to put a dollar figure to it,” he said. “They want to be the one to announce it but it looks very promising.”

Informed sources said the new credit guarantee was in the $200-million range and will likely be one of the more significant results to come out of Mrs. Arroyo’s 10-day working visit to the United States.

One of Mrs. Arroyo’s first official acts in Washington on Monday was to meet with John Danilovic, chief executive of the Millennium Challenge Corp., which recently selected the Philippines as a compact eligible country.

The selection qualifies the Philippines for large-scale grant MCC funding based on independent indicators that measure good governance, the country’s investments in its people and politics that encourage economic freedom. 

At a short press conference after their 30-minute meeting, Mrs. Arroyo said the MCC’s selection of the Philippines was a validation of her government’s efforts to invest in the people, fight corruption and encourage economic freedom.

“Proposals were being prepared and we’re religiously looking at the checklist every time to make sure we comply with all the expectations of the MCC,” she said.

Danilovic said the MCC expected to receive next year a comprehensive set of proposals from the Philippines and after “due diligence” make its selection based on what projects would sustain economic development, reduce poverty and benefit people.

“We have compact proposals that range from $110 million to just under $700 million,” he said.

There was no set maximum amount for MCC funding, Danilovic said.  

Yap said if it was up to him the first priority project should be to repair 300,000 hectares of unserviceable irrigated lands costing about $500 million.

“The aim is to increase production and keep prices stable thus ensuring food security for our people,” he said.

If more money were available his second priority would be to build storage capacity, Yap said.

Before meeting Danilovic, Mrs. Arroyo met with US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, who offered his government’s deepest sympathies for the ferry disaster off Romblon, as well as the death toll from typhoon “Frank.”

A State Department spokesman said the US has sent a Navy ship with search-and-rescue capability to the scene of the tragedy and gave the Philippine National Red Cross $100,000 for immediate support to the victims.

Negroponte offered to work with the Philippine government “on any additional needs,” the spokesman said.