COVENANT

ON
ENHANCED LEGISLATIVE-EXECUTIVE PARTNERSHIP
FOR POVERTY REDUCTION
Discovery Suites, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
19 November 2008

ACCEPTING that the Philippines is now witnessing a modest economic growth with weak
anti-poverty performance due to the challenging global situation characterized by volatile fuel, rising
food prices as well as frequent natural calamities, including the threats and effects of global
economic recession;

REALIZING that poverty is still largely a rural phenomenon and particularly acute in parts of
Mindanao and the Visayas, where, due to high dependence on agriculture and exacerbated unresolved
internal conflicts, population pressures and declining natural resource base, more focused and
accelerated efforts are required to push productivity and per capita economic growth, as well as arrest the
lack of adequate basic social services support and safety nets for the poor, especially women and
children;

RECOGNIZING that our main challenge for the medium-term is to reduce the proportion and
magnitude of people living in poverty and hunger, especially in the rural areas, there is a need to
strengthen institutional capacity and linkages, as well as ensure the participation of all stakeholders,
particularly at the level of local governments to capacitate them to implement and concretize policy and
legislative measures on the ground;

ACKNOWLEDGING the primary roles and mandates of the National Anti-Poverty

Commission (NAPC) and its constituency composed of national government agencies, leagues of
local government units, and basic sectors in poverty alleviation and the empowerment of the poor,
there is a need to ensure and strongly promote their continuing partnership with concerned Legislative
Committees and key legislators on pro-poor measures that carry the aspirations, needs and agenda of the
basic sectors on: (a) improving investments in human resources (education and health) and ensuring
access by the poor; (b) the efficient provision of other basic services such as shelter, water supply and
sanitation and rural infrastructure; (c) increasing access to productive assets such as land, technical
extension services and credit; (d) strengthening the organizational and financial capacity of the poor so
they become active partners in development; and (e) initiating programs to protect the environment and
natural resource base so that they can continue to provide these vital resources over time, as well as
strengthen the sustainability of resources management and improvements to governance for such
purposes;

SUPPORTING the Administration’s Medium-term Policy Agenda, as expressed in its updated

Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP, 2004-2010), including the Philippine’s
commitment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (Millennium Declaration, 2000-2015), a
strong partnership among concerned stakeholders is critical in pursuing collaborative agenda towards:
1) macroeconomic stability and equitable growth based on free enterprise; (2) agriculture and
fisheries modernization with social equity aimed at increasing rural incomes in a sustainable manner,
including improved access to land tenure, extension services, rural infrastructure and credit; (3)
comprehensive human development addressing hunger mitigation, access to quality education, health
and housing services, as well as inclusive protection for the vulnerable and marginalized; and, (4)
good governance and the rule of law, including improved service delivery, better institutions and
judicial reform;

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