A Descriptive Study of the Hiring of Foreign Consultants as a Condition for Foreign Loans and Grants in Foreign- Assisted Government Projects

Abstract

Because of the consultants’ contribution to national development, the government hires foreign and local consultants in government projects. However, in cases of foreign-assisted government projects, the hiring of foreign consultants are conditions in foreign loans/grants thus bypassing our Filipino consultants. Even as Philippine law requires preference of local professionals over foreign ones, these imposed conditions circumvent existing rules and regulations. As a descriptive study whose aim is to identify the conditions by which foreign consultants are hired and paid through foreign-assisted projects, the research design used is non-probability purposive sampling where the researcher obtained the sample from a population of experts regarding their opinion and judgment on the study as representatives in their particular field. The study population includes representatives from the government, the private sector, the Filipino consultants concerned, and from multilateral financial institutions. The researcher conducted interviews as the research instrument in implementing data collection plans. The researcher utilized a qualitative and descriptive approach in interpreting and analyzing the data. The analysis and theory verification centered on the how conditions are imposed on the Philippine government’s entry into foreign loans and grants and how these conditions give way to the hiring of foreign consultants. This, in turn, causes the Filipino consultants to experience disparities as they are bypassed in the hiring process. The hiring of foreign consultants is also a manifestation of aid-tying practices where recipient countries like the Philippines are made dependent to the donor countries and multilateral financial institutions.