Despite the Philippines' failure in weeding out corruption, the US aid arm Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) is pushing through with its planned smaller-scale grant assistance.

During its quarterly meeting last Dec. 18, MCC's board of directors "re-selected the Philippines as eligible to continue to develop a threshold program," according to MCC's website.

The selection of the Philippines for continued threshold program assistance next year was "based on its commitment to strengthening its policy performance, protections for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and anti-corruption efforts since its prior selection and its progress developing its threshold program," MCC said in its Dec. 19 Report on the Selection of Eligible Countries for Fiscal Year 2025.

Last year, MCC selected the Philippines and Tanzania for threshold programs, which are being developed with countries that "demonstrate a significant commitment to meeting the eligibility criteria but do not qualify for compact assistance."

In particular, the Philippine program would "support the government's efforts to reduce poverty and encourage economic growth, while continuing to strengthen just and democratic governance, economic freedom, and social investment" through institutional and policy reforms, MCC said last February, when its chief executive officer (CEO) Alice Albright visited the country.

As Manila Bulletin earlier reported, MCC's fiscal year 2025 country scorebook last November showed that while the Philippines passed in 14 out of the 20 annual indicators, it garnered a red mark in the pass-or-fail control of corruption indicator.

Under MCC rules, a compact or multi-year funding can be extended only to countries that passed at least half of these indicators, as well as garnered green marks in what are regarded as "hard hurdles" for eligibility -- control of corruption, plus civil liberties and political rights indicators.

For many years now, the Philippines failed in control of corruption, which, together with the rule of law indicator that also got a red mark this year, are based on the both Washington-based World Bank and Brookings Institution's latest Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI).

The Philippines scored in the 41st percentile for control of corruption, which requires a score above the 50th percentile to pass.

After a $20.7-million threshold program from 2006 to 2009, the Philippines received its first-and-only to date MCC compact grant worth $434 million in 2011, which funded the construction of roads in Samar island, reformed revenue administration, as well as supported social services delivery to the poor.

When the maiden compact ended in 2016, the MCC deferred another assistance for the Philippines as the country had been "subject to a further review of concerns around rule of law and civil liberties" under then-US president Barack Obama, who had been critical of former president Rodrigo R. Duterte's deadly war on drugs.

In 2017, the Philippines also withdrew from the planned MCC grant to build roads along the eastern coast of Luzon island.

Last Dec. 18, the MCC board chose Liberia as eligible for a new compact, while continuing existing compacts with Cabo Verde, the Gambia and Senegal.

As for Tanzania, whose threshold program was also reselected this year, MCC said its board "expressed concern about reports of disappearances, a rise in political violence, and restrictions on freedom of peaceful assembly and the press."

"The board noted that Tanzania has an opportunity to open political space and advance democratic reforms and urged the government to take steps to strengthen the protection of democratic freedoms ahead of national elections in 2025," MCC said in a Nov. 19 statement.