In November 2006 MSI was awarded a two-year contract for the Millennium Challenge Account-Philippines Threshold Plan Program Technical Assistance Project (MCA-PTP TAP) by USAID/Philippines. The objectives of the Threshold Plan were to strengthen the Government of the Republic of the Philippines’ (GRP) anti-corruption initiatives and to improve compliance and enforcement at the country’s principal revenue administration agencies.

Based in Manila, the project focused on strengthening the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB), the Department of Finance’s Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS), the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s Run After the Tax Evaders (RATE) program, and the Bureau of Customs’ Run After the Smugglers (RATS) program. The project team and its counterparts from the OMB, RIPS, RATE and RATS worked together to achieve the performance indicators set forth in the Philippine Threshold Plan, thus helping to reduce corruption.

The project provided capacity building through training, procurement of needed Information Technology (IT) and surveillance equipment, and counterpart-specific technical assistance including:

• Increased investigation and surveillance abilities of OMB, RIPS, and RATS;
• Developed a legal and procedural reference manual for OMB investigators and prosecutors;
• Helped the Bureau of Customs to draft legislation in preparation for accession to the Revised Kyoto Convention;
• Computerized 75 Regional District Offices (RDOs) of the Bureau of Internal Revenue including the encoding of more than 2.2 million documents into their Integrated Tax System;
• Established a Human Resource Information System for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR);
• Provided extensive training on subjects including legal writing, legal and tax accounting, financial investigations, substantive law, tax fraud, prosecution skills, and customs regulation;
• Procured extensive IT and surveillance equipment/kits for all components;
• Distributing 200,000 anti-corruption exemplars to 4,400 elementary and secondary schools;
• Conducted U.S. study tours for Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs, and Office of the Ombudsman officials; and
• Refurbished/created BIR Training Centers in Cebu, Manila and Tagum City.

The project was successfully completed in May 2009. The MCC declared the Philippines eligible for compact status in the first quarter of 2008. Regular updates and additional information are available at www.mca-ptp.ph

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