“Pera lang ba ang Kailangan?”
A National Consultation of Civil Society Organizations on Financing for Development November 21-22, 2008 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On November 21-22, 2008, a national consultation of civil society organizations on financing for development titled “Pera Lang ba ang Kailangan?” was organized by Social Watch Philippines. Attended by 69 representatives of 36 civil society organizations, the objectives of the national consultation were to review the FfD commitments since the Monterrey Consensus in 2002 and to build consensus and common agenda among civil society organizations on the six thematic issues of financing for development. The policy positions will be carried by SWP to the official processes at the national and global levels. The consultation was welcome by Prof. Leonor Briones, the lead convenor of Social Watch Philippines, followed by a keynote address of Prof. Benjamin Diokno. Draft policy papers on the FfD thematic issues were presented in two sets of plenary sessions by the following: Set 1: a) Leonor M. Briones, Professor, National College of Public Administration and Governance, UP Diliman - mobilizing domestic financial resources b) Joseph Anthony Lim, Professor, Economics Dept of Ateneo de Manial Unviersity - Debt c) Eduardo Tadem, Associate Professor, Asian Studies, UP Diliman - Official Development Assistance Set 2: a) Jessica R. Cantos, President, Action for Economic Reforms - Trade b) Filomeno Sta. Ana III, Coordinator, Action for Economic Reforms - addressing systemic issues (enhancing the coherence and consistency of the international monetary, financial, and trading systems) There were two reactors for each plenary session followed by open forum. Reactors were: Set 1: a) Jocelyn Cuaresma, Professor, National College of Public Administration and Governance, UP Diliman b) Maristella dela Cruz, Overall Campaign Coordinator, Freedom from Debt Coalition Set 2: a) Mario Jose Sereno, Member of International Trade Policy Committee, Federation of Philippine Industries
b) Arze Glipo, Executive Director, Integrated Rural Development Forum The participants were divided into four workshop groups: a) Mobilizing Domestic Resources, b) Trade, c) Debt and ODA, and d) Systematic Issues. Each workshop group discussed the issues and challenges and recommendations on the themes given using the following guide questions: 1) What are the other issues and challenges that can be added? Need to be addressed? 2) What are your recommendations and your action points. Results of the workshop were presented in plenary on the second day, followed by a presentation of the draft conference resolution which highlights the civil society observations and concerns with regard to generating resources to finance development and the MDGs. The national consultation was closed by remarks from two participants from Visayas and Mindanao.