THE Philippines may apply for a bigger grant from the Washington-based Millennium Challenge Corp. to finance critical projects and provide cash to the poorest of the poor, an official said yesterday.

The Philippines had initially submitted a list of projects for financing worth $748.3 million, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said.

He said those included upland water protection worth $42.6 million, an integrated revenue system worth $147.9 million, improvement of secondary roads worth $190.7 million, and doles to poor families worth $227 million.

?[The bigger grant] will be a shot in the arm in our efforts to make our economy more resilient,? Remonde said.

?This will be an additional source of capital for investment in infrastructure and human capital.?

The Philippines had earlier received $20 million from MCC to hire more prosecutors for corruption cases.

Remonde said the larger grant would be used to finance development projects and programs to reduce poverty.

The MCC has given up to $344 million to the so-called compact-eligible countries in the past. Joyce Pangco Pa?ares