HOUSE Speaker Jose C. de Venecia, Jr. said his proposal for Global Debt- for-Equity program, approved by theGeneral Assembly of the United Nations and the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Cebu, will have a big impact on the Philippines and 101 other countries of the world.

De Venecia said here Saturday that under the proposal, 50 per cent of the total debts of the Philippines and those of other heavily indebted countries totaling US 2.3 trillion dollars would be converted into equity in mass housing, food production, reforestation, irrigation, clean water, education , anti-AIDS, health care, and others.

On the part of the Philippines, with its US 56 billion dollars foreign debt, 50 per cent of it would be converted into equity that would be funneled to projects to improve the lives of the poor in urban and rural areas and thereby reduce poverty.

“This is a very, very serious matter,” said de Venecia, adding that after its approval in the UN, his Global Debt-for-Equity proposal will now be presented to the Paris Club, composed of the G-8 which are the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, France, Russia, Germany, Italy and Canada.

If it is approved by the Paris Club, comprising the richest and the most industrialized democracies of the world, then the Philippines and the 101 other indebted countries can convert half of their total debts as equity to finance the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at reducing poverty in the world by 50 per cent by 2015.

“Our debt payment every year is U.S.1.5 billion dollars. If we have debt-for-equity program, I think we should save about P75 billion a year,” he calculated.

De Venecia said he and President Arroyo made a formal presentation of the debt conversion strategy to the UN in September 2005.

Another De Venecia proposal approved by the UN General Assembly and the ASEAN Summit is the holding of global inter-faith, inter-civilizational and inter-cultural dialogues.

He said the UN did not only approve his proposal but also created a unit within it to implement the proposal. (PNA)