No need to worry about suspension of US assistance —Amb. Romualdez

Filipinos need not worry about the looming suspension of existing and new foreign assistance coming from the United States, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez said Sunday.

“Wala naman [dapat ipangamba] dahil sa tingin namin, itong suspension na ito ay just in tough time for them para i-review ‘yung kanilang foreign aid sa lahat ng mga ibang bayan,” Romualdez said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

(There is nothing to fear because we think that this suspension is just in tough time for the US to review their foreign aid to all other countries.)

US President Donald Trump earlier ordered a 90-day pause to review if aid allocation was aligned with his foreign policy, prompting the US State Department to issue a "stop-work" order for all foreign assistance.

With this, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said Saturday that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is now closely monitoring reports regarding the US freeze on foreign aid.

Romualdez allayed fears stemming from this development, saying he believes that the suspension of the aid allocation would only be “temporary.”

“'Yung aid na ibinibigay sa atin is not even considered aid, sa tingin ko, dahil ito’y mga military operations na ginagawa nila like 'yung EDCA sites natin, that is an agreement that we have with the United States,” the ambassador said.

(I think the aid that is being given to us is not even considered aid because these are military operations that they are doing like that in our EDCA sites, that is an agreement that we have with the United States.)

“That is mutually beneficial for both our countries dahil it is important for them na may presence sila sa Indo-Pacific Region at tayo naman, we want them to be present dahil sa ‘yan na ngang ating problema diyan sa West Philippine Sea. So ‘yan ang pinakamalaking so-called ‘aid’ na binibigay sa 'tin,” he added.

(That is mutually beneficial for both our countries because it is important for them to have a presence in the Indo-Pacific Region and as for us, we want them to be present here because of our problem in the West Philippine Sea. That is the biggest so-called 'aid' that the US has been giving to us.)

The US is the largest single donor of aid globally. In fiscal year 2023, it disbursed $72 billion in assistance.

Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the US on Monday (early Tuesday, Philippines time), completing a comeback after losing his reelection bid in 2020 to Joe Biden.

After Trump's inauguration, DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo and Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the importance of the alliance between Manila and Washington.

The DFA also announced that Manila and Washington are looking into the possibility of arranging a meeting between Philippine President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and Trump. —KG, GMA Integrated News