Context and Timing Contribute to Trade Reform Success in Philippines

The European Commission’s trade related technical assistance programme in the Philippines has been a notable success and the context and timing of interventions have played an important role, according to Nick Taylor from the European Union Delegation in Manila.

The EU Delegation in the Philippines originally set out to improve and facilitate trade in the country, but the benefits of the programme have been encouragingly far reaching: contributing to the government’s anti-graft measures and boosting state earnings.

Much of the success of the programme, according to Mr Taylor, is that the EU team started with manageable technical improvements before making valuable efforts to understand the political priorities and individuals touched by their programme and how to best get them involved.

“You’ve got a crossing of interests there which need you to be able to understand very well firstly the context and then the actors and what might motivate them,” said Nick Taylor, from the EU Delegation to the Philippines.

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But one of the delegation’s first actions was the focus on attaining some technological improvements within the Bureau of Customs, most notably by setting up the ASYCUDA, or Automated System for Customs Data. Such developments laid the ground work for supporting the deeper and more complex institutional reforms that followed.

Once the technological improvements were in place, the delegation was better able to work in parallel with the goals of the partner government and make the most of a favourable political environment and a new president.

President Begnino Aquino came into office last year with a slogan ‘if there’s not corruption, there would be no poverty’. And it was inevitable that the programme, which targeted the Philippines’ Bureau of Customs, could not ignore issues of corruption in this key revenue generating department.

Notable anti-corruption actions taken under the programme include the development of an integrity action plan and a reform of their human resources department to better ensure appointees are made on merit rather than connections.

The delegation helped the Bureau of Customs develop “a proper recruitment system based on technical skills and ability – these things can be designed,” said Mr Taylor.

“I think the timing of the exercise, the reason why we enthusiastically said ‘Yes, let’s do this exercise here’,” said Mr Taylor, “was because in our political context, with the election having happened, with the forces at work in the government and in the economic situation of the Philippines... it was the right moment.”

Adding, “We’re looking at a scenario now where we can start planning for something sophisticated for the future.”