US wants transparency in PHL govt's use of $434-M aid

The United States has called on the Philippine government to use transparently its $434-million anti-poverty reduction assistance and ensure that it will go to its intended programs and beneficiaries. US Ambassador Harry Thomas made the appeal after the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US government aid agency, made available last Tuesday the additional grant. “Our government, through the MCC, is pleased to support the Aquino administration in its fight against corruption and poverty and looks forward to the continued transparent implementation of the $434 million MCC compact grant that will benefit millions of poor Filipinos," Thomas said in a statement. The US funding, called compact grant, was signed last September 23 in New York between Philippine Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and MCC CEO Daniel Yohannes and witnessed by President Benigno Aquino III and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Thomas said the grant “is a testament of the U.S. government’s support for the Philippine government and its reform agenda." The Philippines, which qualified in 2007 under the MCC’s threshold program, initially received $21 million for the government’s anti-corruption projects. Under the new funding, $54.3 million would go to the modernization of the Bureau of Internal Revenue to bolster the effectiveness of revenue collection and reduce opportunities for corruption. It also includes $120 million for the expansion of a community-based rural development program that aims to implement an innovative approach to development, strengthen local accountability and empower poor communities to design and drive the projects they need to increase their incomes and improve their lives. Third part of the funding amounting to $214.4 million would be used to construct and repair 220 kilometers of Samar Road. This road, which passes through 15 municipalities, will improve access to markets and services for farmers, fishers, and small businesses in some of the poorest provinces in the Philippines. — KBK, GMA News