GMA: US set to provide $20 M to fund gov’t projects

The United States will finally provide the $20 million in funds promised under its Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) for the Philippines’ economic and anti-corruption programs, President Arroyo announced yesterday.

The President said the US decision was a significant sign of the government’s "good housekeeping," referring to improved gains against corruption and the recovering economy.

"Our reforms in revenue collection and governance are very important… America is now ready to give us $20 million, like what it is giving other countries (that qualified under the MCA)," Mrs. Arroyo said.

The President said the Philippines was among the six countries that were asked to submit their project proposals for funding under the MCA. She attributed this positive development to the country’s fiscal reforms and its ongoing fight against corruption, particularly at the Bureau of Customs.

The President said the US had recognized the gains of the administration in trying to curb corruption.

Mrs. Arroyo said the Philippine projects would include economic and anti-corruption reforms.

She added the US was awaiting final project proposal from the Philippines with Finance Secretary Margarito Teves saying this would be ready by April.

The Millennium Challenge Corp. program is a new funding category providing US government assistance to those countries that have shown a willingness to take the lead in addressing development issues.

Under the MCA process, a country first applies for "threshold status" to improve a particular problem it is facing. Once the threshold goals are reached, the country can apply for "compact status" under the Millennium Challenge Corp.

The Philippines has sought approximately $20 million in funding under the threshold account.

Mrs. Arroyo said the Philippines qualified for threshold status.

Teves said leadership and teamwork were essential to the improvement of the country’s revenue collections and overall fight against corruption.

During a televised roundtable discussion with Teves and Customs Commissioner Napoleon "Boy" Morales, the President ordered the bureau to further intensify its campaign against smugglers, particularly those who drop the name of her husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo.

She also expressed elation over the economy’s strong performance despite the coup and destabilization attempts against her government.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye also said the peso, "like the average Filipino," surmounted the destabilization and "continues to maintain a positive outlook."

The President said that, aside from the peso, the stock market had also improved and that prices of liquefied petroleum gas again dropped by P1 to P1.50.

She added that tax collections for both the Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) had increased, giving the government much-needed revenues to raise allowances of its workers.

The President praised Morales, whom she said was picked to lead the Customs due to his good performance as a collector and not because of any backing by politicians.

She cited the cases filed by the bureau against smugglers, two of which, she said, were pending before the Department of Justice while 62 were already filed in court.

Morales said compared to the P19.7 billion in collections during January-February of last year, the bureau’s collections had risen by P5.1 billion during the same period this year to reach P24.8 billion.

Teves said the lateral attrition law, lifestyle checks among officials and employees of both the Customs and Internal Revenue bureaus and aggressive pursuit of smugglers and tax evaders had contributed to improved government collections.

"There are those who use my husband’s name but he has long instructed them (Customs people) that they should arrest them if they namedrop," the President said.

"So remember that, Boy (Morales), the more you have to arrest and punish those who use my husband’s name (to smuggle)," she said. Mrs. Arroyo said her administration would not stop its crackdown on Customs and BIR employees conniving with smugglers and tax evaders.

"We really need a clean up… There should be a case buildup against them," she said.

The President said these were the efforts that the American government would like to see before releasing the assistance available to its allies. — Aurea Calica