ShareThisClinton backs RP leader at $434 M grant signing
NEW YORK — President Benigno S. Aquino III assured US donors of his resolve to stamp out corruption in government so that businesses could thrive in the Philippines on a square deal.
“I am here to assure you that the Philippines is committed to good housekeeping practices in its domestic and international dealings with investors,” he said in a speech following the signing September 23 of the US$ 434-million Philippines compact with the US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.
Aquino also invited foreign businessmen from around the world to invest in the Philippines, declaring it open for business once again.
In a speech at the Citibank Economic Conference in New York City, President Aquino shared with foreign business stakeholders the realization of several measures in efforts to promote a conducive business atmosphere in the country.
$434 M GRANT TO RP. President Aquino expresses his gratitude to US Secretary of State and MCC chair¬person Hillary Rodham Clinton after the signing of the $434 million Republic of the Philippines-Millennium Challenge Corporation (GRP-MCC) Compact at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Friday . Also in photo are Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and MCC CEO Daniel Yohannes.
“I was elected to office on the promise to fight corruption and do better for the poor. I recognize that in order to do that, the engines of commerce must be running at full throttle,” said the President.
“Let me be crystal clear, to achieve our social goals, it is imperative that we in the Philippines create a climate for private enterprise to profit and thrive. And this is what we have begun to undertake,” he said.
Aquino told an audience taht included US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: “We are committed to not just a fair, but a square deal for all. We will not abandon the poor to the markets, just as we will not distort markets by means of red tape or crony impositions.”
The signing ceremony was witnessed by other MCC and State department officials, US donors to the Philippines compact and President Aquino’s delegation.
Aquino said his key objective in his visit to the US was to inform investors that the Philippines is open for their business and that they could be assured of a level playing field on his watch. He said business prospects could range from Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) projects to corporate social responsibility programs.
He said the Philippine government has already started addressing corruption issues raised by the MCC during negotiations with the Philippines on the funds. He told the US donors that the fine-tuning of performance indicators on MCC projects had already been introduced in six government agencies, namely education, health, public works, transportation, internal revenue and the police. This is to ensure that the MCC money is used as intended: to address the lack of economic opportunities for the poor.
For her part, Clinton expressed confidence in Aquino’s leadership. “I am absolutely convinced, Mr. President, that under your leadership, your country will show great strides forward,” she said, after sharing her thoughts on the Filipino diaspora.
“Let’s be very honest here. Too many of them feel that they cannot progress in their own country. Too many of them feel that the elite in business and politics basically call the shots, and there’s not much room for someone who’s hardworking, but not connected. Too many of them believe that even if they get the best education they can, that there won’t be an opportunity for them, and so they take that education and help build someone else’s economy, very often here in the United States,” she said.
Clinton noted that the Philippines compact, despite being a grant, was a negotiated agreement premised on a checklist of outcomes that the US would be watching for. “So this work that we are agreeing to today has the potential for assisting in the transformation that President Aquino has spoken of,” she said.
The $434-million MCC grant will be used specifically for the Revenue Administration Reform Project or RARP, which directly targets improvements in governance or internal integrity within the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR); the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services or Kalahi-CIDSS, which finances community-initiated development projects; and the Secondary National Roads Project.
Meanwhile, Aquino said the Philippines is seeking the support of the United States in its bid to become a member of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multilateral free trade agreement formed with the objective of creating a platform for promoting economic integration among nations in the Asia-Pacific region.
In his speech at the Council of Foreign Relations at the CFR Auditorium in New York City, President Aquino said the country is “positioning” itself to join the TPP by laying out the tenets that will mark the new Philippines: good governance, employment generation, quality education, improved public health and a home for every family, within safe communities.
President Aquino is in New York for a week-long visit.
“With keen interest, we note the Obama administration’s focus in negotiating a regional Asia-Pacific trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement,” President Aquino said.
“Envisioned as a platform for economic integration across the region, the TPP countries would be in a best place to become the region’s leading hub for trade, investment and growth,” he also said.
President Aquino said that by being a member of the TPP, “The Philippines aims to engage the US in joint trade initiatives that would serve as mutual building blocks.”
“Just like other ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states, the Philippines is already positioning itself as a viable member of the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” the President said.
“We seek US support for this as we recognize its leadership role as host of the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Community) in 2011,” he said.
The TPP aims to eliminate 90 percent of all tariffs among member countries — Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam — by January 1, 2006 and reduce all trade tariffs to zero by the year 2015.
It is a comprehensive agreement covering all the mainstays of a free trade agreement, including trade in goods, rules of origin, trade remedies, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, trade in services, intellectual property, government procurement and competition policy.