hmmm...di kaya kukurakotin din ng mga kurakot etong pera para sa corruption? onli en da philippines......we are being funded to get rid of the corruption. will this get rid of corruption or will this encourage more corruption knowing the mentality of the corrupt people in the government?

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RP gets $20-M US grant for anticorruption drive

Nov 10, 2005
Updated 05:03am (Mla time)
Inquirer News Service

THE UNITED STATES has given the Philippines a grant of $20 million (P1.1 billion) to fund programs to address corruption and raise the level of transparency in public service.

The grant will be administered by Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC), a US state firm that provides assistance to promote economic growth in poor countries, said Finance Undersecretary Emmanuel Bonoan.

Bonoan said the grant would help strengthen the finance department’s Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS) that conducts lifestyle checks on officials and employees of agencies, such as the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Matthew Lussenhop, the US Embassy spokesperson, said the grant was intended to help the Philippines qualify for the Millennium Challenge Account, a major US initiative to help selected countries. The MCA has a $1.5 billion funding for 2005.

The Philippines, however, failed to make the list of qualified countries because of its problems with corruption.

But it qualified under the threshold program, making it eligible to seek US grants to help it improve on its areas of weaknesses to finally qualify for the MCA. Michelle V. Remo