Board to oversee use of $434M in anti-poverty aid

Board to oversee use of $434M in anti-poverty aid

A PERMANENT BOARD has been convened to administer a $434-million grant, to be used for poverty-alleviation programs, from the United States’ Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

The Millennium Challenge Account-Philippines (MCAP) board met on Tuesday and elected Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad as chairman of the board. Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima was elected vice-chairman.

The board members include Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano W. Paderanga, Jr., Social Welfare Secretary Corazon J. Soliman, Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson, Development Bank of the Philippines President Francisco F. Del Rosario, Jr., Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa, Jr., and an MCAP managing director who has yet to be named.

Non-government organizations are also represented through Veronica F. Villavicencio of Pilipina, Inc., Cesar D. Aculan of the Samar Partnership for Peace and Development and Cesar B. Yu Jr. of the Zuellig Family Foundation.

The MCC and the Department of Finance (DoF) signed the Philippine Compact Program last September which released the $434-million grant to fund three key government projects.

The Secondary National Roads Development Project, which will get $214.44 million, aims to rehabilitate the 220-kilometer Samar Road which passes through 15 municipalities in the Western and Eastern Samar provinces. The project seeks to reduce transportation costs and improve access to markets and social services for an estimated 290,000 Filipinos.

The Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services, meanwhile, was allocated $120 million. The project seeks to spur community development by funding crucial local government projects and improving social services for the poor. It is expected to benefit over five million Filipinos over the next 20 years.

The Revenue Administration Reform Project, lastly, will get $54.3 million to help strengthen tax collections and detect corruption in revenue agencies. The grant will fund the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s initiative to redesign its polices and implement the electronic Tax Information System.

It will also support the Revenue Integrity Protection Service by funding the training of personnel and the acquisition of case management software.

Another $8.6 million, meanwhile, will be used for the monitoring and evaluation of MCAP programs, while $36.91 million was set aside for program administration and oversight.

The Compact Program was preceded by a Threshold Program in 2006 which gave the Philippines a $21-million grant. It aimed to assist the country in meeting the selection criteria for the larger Compact Program. -- D. C. J. Jiao

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