US Millennium Challenge Corp shortlists 5 RP projs for funding

The United States government’s Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) has shortlisted five projects for possible funding under the MCC program, a Finance official said yesterday.

Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran met with MCC experts in Washington last week to discuss projects for possible funding under the MCC grant.

He said that the experts are looking at funding five out of 15 projects proposed by the government to MCC, with a total project cost estimated at $841.5 million.

The government is eyeing to implement the five projects for a five-year period starting 2010.

One of the five projects is a social assistance program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development dubbed as the KALAHI-CIDDS. The initial cost of the project is $100 million.

KALAHI-CIDDS which stands for Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Basic Services is a government poverty reduction scheme implemented by the DSWD nationwide.

Another project which could get possible funding is the DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program, also a poverty reduction scheme.  The estimated cost of the project is $227 million.

The Department of Agriculture’s project for sustainable upland development could also get possible funding from MCC. The estimated cost of the project is $42.6 million.

Another project which could get possible funding is the fiscal enhancement program of the government to be implemented by the Department of Finance, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

The project, with an initial cost of $285.4 million, will include the improvement of information technology linkages among the DOF, the BIR and the BOC.

The government’s Secondary National Road project, with an initial cost estimated at $186.4 million, completes the five programs that could get possible funding from the MCC. This project aims to connect rural areas to primary roads.

At present, the Philippines is a threshold country under the MCC program but it can now apply for a compact status by presenting a five-year program that would sustain its fight against corruption and its fight against poverty.  An improvement in its MCC status entitles the Philippines to large-scale funding which it can use to finance its anti-corruption and anti-poverty programs.

In its announcement last March, the MCC board said that countries selected as eligible for a large-scale grant, or compact have the opportunity to submit a proposal for five-year program to reduce poverty through sustainable economic growth.

The MCC is a US government corporation designed to work with developing countries and is based on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces sound political, economic, and social policies that promote poverty reduction through economic growth.–Iris C. Gonzales, Philippine Star