House creates council to reduce country’s debts

TO reduce the country’s debt and attain the millennium development goals (MDGs), the House Special Committee on Millennium Development Goals passed a joint resolution creating the joint legislative-executive council on debt-for-MDG swap which aims to pursue a debt-reduction strategy and resource-generation scheme for sustainable human development.

The council shall be composed of three representatives from the Senate, three from House of Representatives and five from the Executive branch.

House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman described as a “win-win solution for a debtor country,” the debt swaps initiated by creditor countries to address the global financial crisis.

Lagman said the debt-for- MDG swap converts into debt repayment, with the conformity of the creditor country, the amount a debtor appropriates for its development, health and MDGs.

Rep. Imelda Marcos (Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, Ilocos Norte), chairman of the special committee, said there was a need to address the remaining challenges in attaining the MDG targets. These include the eradication of poverty and hunger, universal primary education, gender equality and women empowerment, reduction of child mortality, maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; environmental sustainability and global partnership for development.

During the deliberations, director Erlinda Campones of the National Economic Development Authority (Neda), posed no objections to debt-for-MDG swaps as long as these were consistent with debt-to-nature and debt-to-development conversion the country has had in the past.

Former National Treasurer Leonor Briones, lead convenor of Social Watch Philippines, for her part, observed that the proposed P10-billion allocation for the legislative executive council was “very humble” to enable the council to fulfill its objectives.

Malacañang has expressed appreciation for the efforts of the chamber in ensuring that the country maintains focus in attaining MDG targets even as it underscored the need to monitor the implementation of MDG programs by agencies concerned.

In a UNDP document, Jacqueline Badcock, UN resident coordinator, said that despite the challenges experienced by the Philippines in the past 10 years, it has scored significant achievements in some goals, such as infant- and child-mortality reduction, decreasing incidence of malaria, and access to water and sanitation. –Fernan Marasigan / Reporter, Businessmirror