Development partners pleased with Aquino's reform programs

MANILA, Philippines (PNA) - Over 200 foreign donors, creditors, civic societies and the academe that attended the whole-day Philippine Development Forum at the Sofitel on Saturday expressed satisfaction at the economic and social reforms initiated by the Aquino administration since it assumed office in July 2010.

Several members of the Aquino Cabinet participated actively in the discussions, which World Bank Country Director Bert Hofman described as open, candid and had a lot of shared optimism and trust towards President Aquino’s Social Contract with the Filipino People, the basis for the Philippine Development Program for 2011-2016.

The forum was chaired by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and co-chaired by World Bank Country Director Bert Hofman. Among the Aquino Cabinet members present were: Acting Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Secretary Ging Deles and Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares.

In the wrap-up of the full-day forum, Hofman said the participants shared a lot of optimism, openness and trust for the Aquino administration’s handling of the economy. He noted that with effective implementation of the plan and adequate support, the Philippine government can realize its goal of eradicating poverty through sustained high levels of growth.

He said the development partners of the Philippines welcome the President’s social contract with the Filipino people saying the 16 points outlined in the contract “go to the heart of the many development challenges that Filipinos confront today.” The partners also congratulate the government for some very positive and early reforms that seek to deliver this social contract.

The partners also recognize the importance of the forum as the framework that would allow them to align their support programs with the Philippine program with particular emphasis on strengthening the capacity to implement the program in the local governments through performance-based grants to make budgeting open, transparent and consultative.

They also commended the Philippine legislature for passing a quality 2011 budget and the timely release, which Hofman said “sends an unambiguous signal that this government and legislature are fiscally responsible, transparent and performance-oriented.”

Hofman said development partners laud the government’s strong growth posted last year, the timely passage of the first budget of the new administration and the priority given to the conditional cash transfer program and household targeting systems.

Civil society organizations acknowledged the greater space for involvement as they stressed the need to focus on asset reform, better coordination among anti-corruption agencies, greater access to information and development of the poorest areas of Mindanao.

The foreign development partners welcomed the resumption of peace negotiations and expressed support for the peace process.

The human development cluster of the forum emphasized the need to expand the social safety nets that have proven effective such as CCT, fast tracking the public health insurance program for the poor and improved targeting of public expenditures. For the longer term, the partners cited the need to strengthen disaster risk and climate change management. The partners noted the slow progress in attaining some of the Millennium Development Goals such as universal primary education, improving maternal health and combating pandemic diseases, particularly HIV.

The development partners also welcomed the government’s public private partnership (PPP) agenda as an effective means to provide urgently needed infrastructure and pledged their support to strengthen the government’s capacity to promote, develop and manage PPP.

To mobilize financial resources from the private sector and to attract more investments to the Philippines, the development partners said it is essential that the business environment remains substantially improved and the strong commitment shown in this regard is translated into concrete measures that are steadily implemented on the ground.

source: manila bulletin