“We regret that in the report submitted by Wilshire to CalPERS which covers 27 countries, the consulting firm gave the Philippines a total score of 1.86, which was an improvement from 1.46 in 2003, but still below the score of 2 for qualified investment sites for the US pension fund,” Secretary Albert said.

 “We do take some issue with the scoring system of Wilshire Associates, which contained some inaccuracies and which relied on third party sources,” Secretary Albert added.

Other Philippine Government officials, including officials from the Banko Central ng Pilipinas have also expressed grave reservations over the findings of Wilshire Associates.

The Secretary said that she remains hopeful that when CalPERS meets next week to decide on the listing of the Philippines, CalPERS will take into consideration the new representations to be made by the Philippines.

 “My sense of hope is based on the excellent work that was done by our Ambassador to the US, Ambassador Albert Del Rosario, who was able to prevail on CalPERS last year to maintain us on their list.  He has made excellent recommendations on this issue and will be taking immediate action, with the full support of the
Philippine Government,” Secretary Albert said.  “We remain hopeful that CalPERS will give us a chance to present our side and that they will take into consideration the additional information and representations that we will be providing,” the Secretary said. END.