PALACE TURNS DOWN NEW GRANT FROM EU
Finance chief assures projects financed by existing EU grants will still proceed
Malacañang on Thursday said President Rodrigo Duterte approved the decision not to accept grants from the European Union (EU) but clarified that the policy pertains only to new grants that imposes conditions affecting Philippine autonomy.
Existing grants from EU will continue.
“The President has approved the recommendation of the Department of Finance (DOF) not to accept grants -- and this is not necessarily humanitarian aid -from the EU that may allow it to interfere with the internal policies of the Philippines,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said during a Palace briefing.
He said the move was precipitated by a grant proposal from EU that carries a provision that is unacceptable to the government.
This was confirmed by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez.
“We did not cancel any existing EU grants. PRRD approved the recommendation not to accept the EU’s offer of a grant of about USD 280 million which would involve review of our adherence to the rule of law. That specific grant, that is considered interference in our internal affairs,” Dominguez said in a statement sent to media.
The EU delegation in Manila said the Philippine government informed it about its decision Wednesday, but it has yet to receive a written notice.
EU Ambassador Franz Jessen said more than 250 million euros ($278.7 million) worth of grants was at stake.
“We are still awaiting more detailed clarification from the government,” Jessen said in an email to the AP. “The amount possibly concerned by the new decision is 250 million euro plus. For this year the amount affected could be 100 million euro.”
On its website, the European Commission (EC) said the EU’s support to the Philippines focuses on the health sector, governance and on assistance to vulnerable populations, specifically in Mind- anao which has been affected by population displacement.
Projects
Development projects currently using EU assistance include a 35 million euro ($39 million) grant to support the peace process with Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines.
The EU is also the largest foreign investor in the Philippines, the only member of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations to enjoy duty-free exports under EU’s Generalized Scheme of Preferences + or GSP+ incentives for developing countries.
The Philippine’s duty-free exports to EU was worth around 1.6 billion euros ($1.78 million) in 2016, according to EU delegation data.
In March, the EU summoned a Philippine envoy to explain an expletive-laden tirade by Duterte, who threatened to hang EU officials for opposing his efforts to re-impose the death penalty.
The EU’s external action service, the equivalent of a foreign office, said it hauled Charge d’Affaires Alan Deniega to its Brussels headquarters to provide “an explanation for the recent, unacceptable comments of President Duterte.”
The move highlights growing European exasperation with the president.
Duterte has lashed out at the EU repeatedly for raising human rights concerns over his deadly crackdown on illegal drugs.
Meanwhile, Abella raised the possibility that the policy would not be limited to the EU alone as the Philippines has the preroga- tive to accept or decline any foreign aid or loan.
“The Philippines reserves the right to accept loans and grants that help attain its objectives of promoting economic development inclusiveness and reducing poverty, attaining peace within its borders and with its neighbors, and fostering a law-abiding society,” he said.
“It also reserves the right to respectfully decline offers that do not achieve these goals and offers that allow foreigners to interfere with the conduct of its internal affairs,” Abella said.