THE Philippines may no longer be able to access funding from the Washington-based Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) given the country’s very low ratings in the institution’s scorecard for 2021.
In a plenary hearing on Monday, Senator Joel Villanueva said the assessment made by the MCC should not be taken lightly.
In 2017, the Philippines withdrew its application from the MCC to focus its efforts on rebuilding Marawi. CNN reports earlier quoted Malacañang as saying that the withdrawal was not linked with the country’s failure to meet the MCC’s standards on rule of law and curbing corruption.
“[The] Washington-based MCAccount has given the Philippines a failing mark for its inability to curb corruption, [increase] health expenditures, [improve] immunization rates, access to credit, among others and thus ineligible for grants,” Villanueva said. “I hope that we will be able to discuss some of the issues here while we tackle this very, very important measure, which is the national budget.”
Based on the 2021 scorecard of the MCC for the Philippines, the country did not meet the MCC’s standards on access to credit which is only 36 percent and Business Start-Up at 29 percent.
The country also failed in meeting MCC standards for control of corruption, which is at 39 percent; Rule of Law at 46 percent; and Freedom of Information, 32 percent.
The data also showed that the Philippines did not meet MCC standards in health expenditures which is currently at 21 percent; primary education expenditures where there is no data; and immunization rates, 11 percent.
The country’s percentile ranking was the highest in Regulatory Quality at 93 percent; Government Effectiveness, 89 percent; and Land Rights and Access, 80 percent.
MCC explained that in terms of percentile ranking, a zero percent rating is the worst; a 50 percent rating is the median; and a 100 percent rating is the best.
“I think we need to face this right now and we should not take this lightly because their assessment may serve as a challenge for us to do better, especially in governance,” Villanueva said.
In 2010, the Philippines received a five-year economic development compact granting $434 million to the Philippines for investments in roads, community development projects, and improvements to the country’s Bureau of Internal Revenue.
The MCC compact provided funding for three major projects. First, the compact provides $214.4 million to construct and repair 220 kilometers of Samar road.
This road, which passes through 15 municipalities, will improve access to markets and services for farmers, fishermen, and small businesses in some of the poorest provinces in the Philippines.
The compact also included $120 million to expand Kalahi-CIDSS, a development project that empowers communities by encouraging their participation in poverty-reducing activities.
The project will provide community grants to support the building of critical infrastructure such as water systems, clinics, and schools.
The compact also included $54.3 million in investments to computerize and streamline business processes in the Bureau of Internal Revenue. This project will bolster the effectiveness of revenue collection and reduce opportunities for corruption.