Poverty alleviation in Philippines still main goal of Millennium Development Challenge

The poverty-alleviation program of the government of President Benigno Aquino III will get its needed boost now that the 434-million-U.S.-dollar grant from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) of the United States is being implemented.

Three major projects under the MCC grant would demonstrate the joint commitment of the United States and Philippines in fighting poverty in the country, Philippine Finance Secretary and Millennium Challenge Account-Philippines (MCA-P) Vice Chairman Cesar V. Purisima and MCA-P Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Ma. Victoria E. Anonuevo said in a press statement released on Thursday.

Purisima and MCC CEO Daniel Yohannes signed the Compact, which contains the U.S. grant, on Sept. 23, 2010 in New York. President Aquino III who was on a state visit to the United States at that time and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have witnessed the signing of the Compact.

During the signing, President Aquino III assured the donor country that his administration would handle the funds with utmost care. "I am here to assure you that the Philippines is committed to good housekeeping practices in its domestic and international dealings with investors," Aquino said.

Aquino also said that his administration is committed "not just to 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 implementation of the Compact, which will run for five years, followed the completion by the Philippine government, through MCA-P, of project preparation and documentation involving the Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Justice (DOJ), and Compact implementing entities, such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the DOF's Revenue Integrity Protection Service

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