Envoy says PHL didn’t seek new grant from US Millennium Challenge Corp.

WASHINGTON – The Philippines did not seek a second development grant from a United States agency amid reports that the country failed to qualify for a multi-million dollar assistance for its poor rating on curbing corruption and rule of law.

Ambassador to the US Babes Romualdez said discussions on securing development aid from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) had been suspended since 2017, saying the agency made it hard for the country to obtain a fresh grant due to human rights concerns under the administration of Rodrigo Duterte.

Two years ago, the MCC—an independent American aid agency created by the US Congress in 2004—deferred the selection of the Philippines to receive a second batch of development grant, citing concerns on “rule of law and civil liberties.”

“There has been no formal offer from the US part and no formal rejection on the part of the Philippine government,” Romualdez told journalists.

Before Rodrigo Duterte assumed the presidency, the MCC announced that it had unanimously re-selected the Philippines to receive a second grant in recognition of the country’s continuing efforts to improve its policies on good governance under then President Benigno Aquino III.

The formal re-selection of the Philippines by the MCC was supposed to succeed the first grant or compact of $434 million that expired at the end of May 2016.

Washington, a long-time Philippine treaty ally, has expressed concern on the wave of killings of drug suspects since Duterte came into power on June 30, 2016.

The US said it supports the country’s anti-illegal drugs campaign, but maintained that due process and human rights must be observed by Philippine authorities in carrying out its operations.

Duterte's deadly on war on drugs that killed more than 7,000 also sparked concerns from the international community, including the UN, and the European Union, causing the Philippine leader to resort to curses-laden verbal attacks against them and human rights critics.

Even as it suspended its participation in the MCC, Romualdez explained that the Philippines remain on the the MCC’s annual list of possible recipients because the agency automatically includes countries eligible to receive grants. 

“That’s just a list for those who might be interested and then you have to reach out to them or you have to work together to jointly develop the compact,” Romualdez said. “We turned it down technically. This is an example of our veering away from being too dependent on this country.”

Moreover, Romualdez said there are other entities willing to finance development projects in the Philippines with the country’s good credit rating of BBB+, which is a notch below the much coveted A grade.

“We even had a better credit rating than the US,” he said. “ We are not mendicants, we no longer are mendicants. We were accused of being as one, we were treated as one, but  not anymore. We have come to terms that we have to do things on our own and that’s what we are doing now.” —NB, GMA News