This is a re-posted opinion piece.
Never mind the assessments of its previous ambassador to Manila; Washington now seems to like the new administration under Benigno S. Aquino III.
P-Noy is one of about 10 heads of government invited to Washington this month for a meeting with US President Barack Obama on good governance.
The heads of government will go to Washington from New York after the annual gathering of the United Nations General Assembly.
In November, the Philippines and the United States will launch the Joint Country Action Plan on a new initiative of the Obama administration, called the Partnership for Growth (PFG). The action plan is expected to be finalized this month. It seeks to support sustainable, broad-based economic growth through good governance.
As I’ve written recently, Washington now considers bad governance as a major cause of security problems that could adversely affect US national interests.
Washington picked the Philippines last January together with El Salvador, Ghana and Tanzania as one of the pilot partner-countries for the PFG.
A primer on the PFG said the four countries were chosen for their “solid track records in economic performance, economic policy, democratic governance and investments in their people, and execution and success on other (US government) investments.”
The PFG complements other aid initiatives of the US such as the Millennium Challenge Account. Washington withheld the release of about $450 million under the MCA to the Arroyo administration because certain requirements in dealing with corruption were not met. The amount was made available last year, shortly after P-Noy’s visit to the US.
Fifteen Washington-based US agencies will help the Philippines unlock its economic growth potential, in partnership with the Aquino administration’s economic cluster, which includes the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
Unlocking the potential includes earmarking $150 million under the US Agency for International Development to promote transparency, competitiveness and growth in the Philippines. The amount will also cover USAID investments in biotechnology for needy farmers.
Analysis of constraints for the PFG in the Philippines was completed last June 2. Philippine Cabinet members and US officials led by Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. as well as civil society groups held consultations in Manila from June 21 to 23 to draw up a framework of priorities.
USAID Administrator Raj Shah, meeting with DFA Secretary Albert del Rosario in Washington on June 23, said the PFG would offer “policy partnerships, deeper economic engagements, and hopefully, trade concessions.”
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During the consultations, among the areas identified for improvement were the regulatory environment, fiscal space, and the rule of law.
The last one includes not only reducing court delays and enhancing judicial efficiency and integrity but also strengthening the enforcement of laws against corruption.
Improving fiscal space covers revenue generation efforts and management of expenditures.
The to-do list for improving the regulatory environment is longer. It includes reducing the cost of doing business, adopting measures to promote competition, and scrapping discriminatory and restrictive barriers to entry.
It includes better skills development and market matching. It calls for better coordination between national and local regulatory authorities as well as the elimination of overlapping and conflicting regulatory functions.
The list also calls for better enforcement of contracts. I’ve been told by several reliable sources that major investors have shied away from P-Noy’s flagship Public-Private Partnerships or PPP program for fear that if they sign any deal in this country, the document is worth less than toilet paper, and worse, they could find themselves haled to court or be forced to resort to expensive international arbitration.
This week the executive director of the PPP resigned. The official version from Malacañang was that Philamer Torio had decided to study in the US. The unofficial version, from snake pit sources who claim to be reliable, is that Torio threw in the towel amid the continuing tepid response to the PPP.
For many years, local and foreign businessmen in this country have been calling for the reforms identified in the PFG. Perhaps $150 million from Washington, channeled through the administration that espouses daang matuwid, can finally produce the hoped-for results.
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The PFG, and P-Noy’s latest Obama invite to Washington, even if only for a day, should soothe administration feathers ruffled by Kristie Kenney’s assessments of Noynoy Aquino before he became president.
People change, and power and the presidency can leave lasting changes on an individual. Fidel Ramos lost his crankiness as soon as he started campaigning for the presidency. His sense of humor emerged and has not disappeared in his retirement.
Washington policy also changes. Kenney was heavily into the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and for a while the US dangled development aid ($30 million was mentioned) to the separatists if ever they signed a peace agreement with Manila.
But it looks like Kenney’s government has learned its lesson from the aborted Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain. There’s no longer any mention of development aid to be placed at the MILF’s disposal, and in any case, Washington’s finances aren’t in the pink of health these days.
These days the UK looks more engaged in the peace process than the US. Maybe MILF leaders, unable to control Ameril Umbra Kato or secure a commitment from P-Noy for a “sub-state,” should just apply for Irish political asylum or citizenship.
If P-Noy asks for help, perhaps the US will come in. At the start of his second year in power, P-Noy can still count on goodwill – from businessmen, from the millions who voted for him, and from Washington.
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By: Ana Marie Pamintuan – Sketches
Source: The Philippine Star, Sept. 9, 2011
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