The Philippine government has rejected a EUR6.1-million (P327.4 million) trade assistance project from the European Union, head of European Commission Delegation to the Philippines Franz Jessen said.
Jessen, in a news forum on January 24, said the Philippines rejected the fund allocated under the EUR300 million Trade-Related and Technical Assistance Phase Four (TRTA 4) that should have been implemented in 2017.
Jessen said the rejection was formalized “in the sense that we have, for example, in the TRTA, a document that actually had to be signed by the end of the year. And that has been returned to us unsigned.”
The funding commitment for the fourth phase of TRTA was made early in 2017 following the completion of its third phase in March last year. The EU has been supporting the Philippines with trade-related technical assistance since 2005. TRTA 3, executed in 2014-2017, aimed to build capacity among stakeholders for the Philippines’ integration into the international and regional trading and investment system. The project components covered trade policy, competition policy, national quality infrastructure, sanitary and phytosanitary conformity, and trade facilitation.
Jessen said the renewal of TRTA 4 will not happen as the budget for the project has already “disappeared.”
“The budget that we used for that was an annual budget that now has gone. We’re now in 2018, we cannot spend 2017 money, so it’s gone,” he said.
Jessen added that the rejection had to do with the words “rule of law,” “democracy,” and “human rights” in the TRTA documents.
He pointed out, however, that the conditions attached to EU aid “are not specifically for the Philippines” but covers EU’s cooperation “with all countries in the world.”
“So for me it is a bit sad that after 30 years plus of development cooperation, we suddenly get into this situation. And the independence of Philippine foreign policy we are still struggling a bit to understand how we are interfering in that,” Jessen said.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said the government will no longer accept grants from the EU for allegedly disrespecting the country’s sovereignty following a group of European parliamentarians’ move to denounce human rights violations in the country due to the administration’s war on drugs.
Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano earlier said the Philippines would only reject foreign grants that come with conditions “that will affect our sovereignty.”
Aside from TRTA 4, Jessen said three projects—amounting to EUR39 million and involving the provision of renewable energy to poor households in Mindanao—will also be rejected.
Jessen, meanwhile, said the EU respects the Philippine government’s decision.
“We respect the decision. It is important for us that we don’t have misunderstanding. It’s, at the end of the day, for them to decide,” Jessen said.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
