Reporter

THE Delegation of the European Commission (EC) in the Philippines has set out indicative priorities in the country for the next four years under the €61-million (P3.66 billion) development cooperation programs focusing on sustainable reduction of poverty.

Ambassador Alistair Macdonald, head of the Delegation of EC to the Philippines, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Acting Director General Augusto Santos of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) that set out the indicative priorities for the EU development programs from 2007 to 2010.

He said the MOU is based on the European Commission’s multiannual indicative program that works within the framework of the Medium-Term Development Plan from 2004 to 2010.

The primary focus of the funding program is the delivery of basic health services with a grant worth €36 million (P2.16 billion)

“The European Commission reaffirms its commitment to help the Philippines in its economic, social and political reform processes, by providing support to assist in the fight against poverty, to encourage integration into the world economy, to promote good governance and human rights, and to help strengthen the relationship between the EC and the Philippines,” said Macdonald at the signing ceremony held Thursday at the Neda office in Pasig City.

The second priority lined up by Brussels under a €12-million grant (P720 million) aims to support the Mindanao peace process. The EC has been channeling big sums to conflict-stricken areas in Southern Philippines to help rehabilitate the lives of the displaced families, infrastructure and livelihood projects.

Macdonald said other development projects include strategic projects facility for local governance worth €6.5 million (P390 million) and another 6.5 million (P390 million for trade-related technical assistance. These programs will help exporters whose products face barriers in European markets.

The ambassador said EU assistance to the Philippines for poverty-eradication programs began in 1976 with a total of €1 billion (P62 billion).

Sixty percent of this, or €625 million, has been in grant funding, and €413 million, in loans from the European Investment Bank. 

Terrorists threaten to disrupt Friday rally

THE military warned on Thursday against the possibility of terrorist groups’ sowing violence during Friday’s expected rally of anti-Arroyo groups in Makati City.

SENATE investigators are tapping Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) to follow the money trail of the alleged $41-million kickbacks advanced in three tranches by China’s Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment Co. Ltd. to Arroyo administration officials and cronies for the aborted $329- million national broadband network (NBN) deal.

THE conflicting statements of President Arroyo and her aides on the botched national broadband project only served to reinforce the suspicions that contract was tainted with fraud which they are trying to cover up, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said on Thursday.

THE Delegation of the European Commission (EC) in the Philippines has set out indicative priorities in the country for the next four years under the €61-million (P3.66 billion) development cooperation programs focusing on sustainable reduction of poverty.

MRS. EDITHA BURGOS on Thursday presented before the Court of Appeals (CA), which is hearing her petition for writ of amparo, a confidential report of the Philippine Army (PA) showing that her son Jonas, a suspected member of the communist New People’s Army (NPA), “has been neutralized.”

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) investigators have absolved the soldiers accused of killing eight people in a coastal village of Sulu on February 4, a military official disclosed.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—The Army commander, Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano, said the investigation for alleged corruption of a senior military official will be completed in a few days.