Getting to know Belgium

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Getting to know Belgium

Posted: 11:30 PM Dec. 31, 2005Tina Arceo-DumlaoInquirer
(Published on page B1 of the January 1, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

ASIDE from the chocolates, lace, diamonds and the nuns, Filipinos do not know much about Belgium.

New Belgian ambassador Gregoire Vardakis has thus made it his mission to get the Philippines to know his country a little bit better.

Vardakis admits to Business Monday that Belgium does not easily come to mind in business and social circles in Metro Manila because there have been little direct investments in big-ticket projects over the past few years.

The more known would be the Light Rail Transit -1 project which was put up using mainly Belgian funds and built by Belgian firms.

"The fact is that we are under investing... that's why people don't know much about our country," Vardakis says in an interview.

But ask a good number of non-government organizations, cooperatives, farmers and fisherfolk in the countryside, and they will tell a different story.

For what Belgium lacked in investments, it more than made up for in development assistance projects.


Vardakis says that the Philippines is one of the biggest recipients of indirect Belgian aid with Belgian taxpayers providing some 2.5 million Euros a year to the Philippines through non-government organizations with quality projects.

The Philippines also used to be on the list of about 18 priority countries for direct, government-to-government aid, but the country was removed recently as the development level has improved.

The 22-million Euro direct aid program will end in August 2007, although it is still subject to review. But Vardakis says that removal from the list does not mean that indirect aid will stop.
On the contrary, funds will likely keep on coming due to the impact that Belgian money has been making on thousands of poverty-stricken families in the Philippines, particularly in Eastern Visayas.

Vardakis recently went to Catbalogan, Samar with representatives from Disop, one of the biggest Belgian NGOs operating in the Philippines, to see the results of some development projects for himself.

The career diplomat was not disappointed.

When he went to meet the Mahayagnons Farmer Multipurpose Cooperative, he learned that the members have learned how to produce virgin coconut oil, and the new trade promises to add significantly to their income.

Virgin coconut oil production is the latest skill that the members are learning through the development program implemented by the Philippine Business for Social Program with the support of Disop.

Leo Hilado, who oversees the Samar program for PBSP, says the three-year program with Disop is designed to benefit 2,300 families in 12 municipalities-10 in Catbalogan and two from neighboring Jiabong.

It involves developing mariculture technologies to augment the income of the families, as well as the strengthening of the capabilities of the cooperatives to implement their own projects.
Eastern Visayas has cornered a big portion of development assistance funds coursed through Disop because it desperately needs the help.

"There is more need for development assistance here," Vardakis says, "I have the feeling that the standard of living in this part is lower than most."

Vardakis, who arrived in the country four months ago, says he intends to visit the other sites where Belgian funds have a presence, saying it gives him a great feeling of satisfaction knowing that Belgian taxpayers' money is doing real good.

"I believe that the Belgian taxpayer is ready to help in development as long as they know the impact on the local population," Vardakis says.

Vardakis says that it is through these social development projects across the country that he hopes the Philippines would get a better idea of what Belgium is all about - more than through the usual investments in business and infrastructure projects. copyright

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