Palace: EU offered grant that would allow it to meddle in PHL affairs

It was the Department of Finance that recommended to President Rodrigo Duterte not to accept certain grants from the European Union that impose preconditions that would allow it to interfere with Philippine affairs, Malacañang said Thursday.

“The President has approved the recommendation of the Department of Finance not to accept grants and this is not necessarily humanitarian aid from the EU that may allow it to interfere with the internal policies of the Philippines,” said presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella at a press briefing.

“These grants pertain to particular projects or programs that have the potential of affecting the autonomy of the country,” he added.

Abella said that the DOF’s decision was triggered by a particular proposal that had a condition that would allow the EU to interfere with the country's internal affairs.

“The DOF recommended that we should not accept for the plain and simple reason that it would allow them to use that grant to interfere with the way we handled things... the way we handled policy, the way we handled affairs,” he told reporters after the briefing.

Abella refused to identify the particular grant saying he could not go into the specifics of the said proposal, but hinted that grant had only been offered recently and involved a "fair amount."

Meanwhile, the spokesperson stressed that the Philippine government would always have the option to accept or respectfully reject loans and grants from foreign entities.

“The Philippines reserves the right to accept loans and grants that help attain its objectives of promoting economic development inclusiveness and reducing poverty, attaining peace within its borders and with its neighbors, and fostering a law-abiding society,” he said during the briefing.

“It also reserves the right to respectfully decline offers that do not achieve these goals and offers that allow foreigners to interfere with the conduct of its internal affairs,” he added. — MDM, GMA News