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Saturday, March 15, 2008
Arroyo to US: We'll rid RP of corruption
MANILA -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday assured the United States government of the country's commitment to rid the Philippine government of corruption, which she said got a boost with the enactment of the 2008 budget recently.
Arroyo, in a letter to Ambassador John Danilovich -- chief executive officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), thanked him and the MCC for granting the Philippines the eligibility to "apply for Compact status under the MCC assistance program."
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
"We look forward to further intensifying our cooperation with the corporation as part of our ever-robust relationship with the US. As Asia's showcase of democracy now joining the region's leading economies, the Philippines, with America's help, aims to show that rapid socio-economic development and the full exercise of freedom and human rights can be achieved together," she said.
The MCC, an official US government corporation, is designed to help developing countries fight poverty, determines eligibility for large-scale grant funding based on independent indicators that measure good governance, the country's investments in its people, and policies that encourage economic freedom.
The President said with the enactment of the P1.127 trillion budget of the Philippines for 2008, she expects the country's anti-corruption efforts to accelerate following the allocation of P959 million to the Office of the Ombudsman, a lead agency in the investigations and prosecution of graft and corruption cases.
She said another measure to improve the anti-red tape campaign that the Philippines has adopted is the computerization of the systems of the revenue agencies "to better monitor economic activity and collect the right taxes and duties."
"And the further increase of government pay, totaling 30 percent since 2006, will reduce the need to augment salaries through petty graft," she added.
Arroyo also reported to the MCC that the Procurement Transparency Group (PTC) is now fully operating and harnessing both national agencies and civil society groups to monitor the procurement process in a bid to "further enhance integrity of public contract bidding." She said all state agencies and corporations have already been required to submit to the PTC all their spending plans and bidding information or review and monitoring.
The President said aside from the anti-corruption initiatives, the Philippine government is also addressing political violence in the country with incidents of activists and media killing falling to 83 percent from 2006.
She said the investigation and prosecution of corruption suspects, including members of the police and the military, continue while the Supreme Court (SC) has promulgated "new instruments to help victims or threatened individuals through the writ of amparo and the writ of habeas data."
"We hope that these and similar initiatives and achievements shall bring the Philippines closer to Compact status. Our thanks again for the MCC's decision on our eligibility status. We look forward to the full cooperation and assistance from the Corporation in our drive to fight poverty and give a better life to our people," she added.
The MCC, after its review of Philippine performance, has found it as eligible for MCC compact, which Arroyo said is "an opportunity that can bring hundreds of millions of dollars to our nation to lift our nation out of poverty."
Under the MCC scorecard for 2008, the Philippines failed only in three of the 17 threshold programs. These are health expenditures, primary education expenditures, and fiscal policy. (JMR/Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (March 15, 2008 issue)
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