US assures continued aid to Philippines, first recipient under Trump’s aid realignment
MANILA, Philippines — Despite cuts to the United States' foreign assistance elsewhere, Washington intends to keep aid flowing to the Philippines, including programs to curb illegal fishing in its waters in the South China Sea, a senior US diplomat said on Thursday, September 4.
Jonathan Fritz, principal deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs at the US State Department, said on Thursday that the Philippines would remain a priority partner even as the US has realigned its foreign assistance program under President Donald Trump.
"The message that we want to convey to our Filipino friends is you guys were the first recipients of new assistance funding," Fritz told reporters at a roundtable discussion at the US Embassy in Manila. "I think that will sort of set a mark, and the Philippines will continue to be one of our closest partners in this space going forward."
Fritz is in Manila this week to meet Philippine officials and experts to discuss the US' growing economic ties with the Philippines, including foreign aid.
His visit comes months after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s July 23 announcement of at least P3 billion ($60 million) in new assistance for Manila after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s meetings with top US officials in Washington.
It was the first foreign aid pledge made under US President Donald Trump, who months ago ordered a sweeping review of all the US' foreign assistance programs before eventually moving to abolish the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Trump's dismantling of USAID in July proved highly controversial, as the administration terminated approximately 92% of the agency's grants worldwide and cut over 4,000 programs. The US leader had described the 63-year-old agency as being run by "radical lunatics."
USAID has since merged with the State Department and has seen most of its programs scrapped, including those related to promoting democracy and human rights, as well as strengthening civil society.
Now, the US’ new aid strategy is focused on programs it says directly strengthen partner economies and advance American security interests.
On Thursday, Fritz said the US' foreign assistance to the Philippines will focus on projects that bolster the resilience of its energy sector, improve infrastructure through the Luzon Economic Corridor, and enhance the country’s ability to counter illegal fishing in its waters.
The Philippines is the US' oldest treaty ally in Asia and is considered key to Washington's security interests due, among others, to its proximity to key sea lanes in the South China Sea.
Targeting illegal fishing
The US intends to provide funding for programs that will work directly with Filipino fishermen to monitor and report unauthorized vessels in Philippine waters.
"One of the key areas where we will be focusing our foreign assistance programming going forward is helping the Philippines better monitor illegal fishing," Fritz said.
These programs are set to be implemented in areas "north and west" of the country, including the South China Sea, the US official said.
These are waters where Chinese ships — including its shadowy maritime militia vessels — have frequently swarmed, though Fritz on Thursday did not directly name China.
"I know that the fisheries industry here in the Philippines is an important part of the economy... But there are some neighbors, and some more than others, that I know are basically stealing the fish resources of the Filipino people," Fritz said.
The program aims to tap local fishers into becoming "frontline eyes and ears" who will transmit real-time information about illegal fishing, habitat destruction, coral reef damage, and marine pollution to local and national governments.
Overall, the aim is to track foreign vessels "taking resources of the Philippine people without their permission," Fritz added.
Energy, infrastructure
Of the $63 million announced in July, $24 million will go toward improving the resilience of the Philippine energy and electricity sector, including support for civil nuclear power and renewable energy sources.
Fritz said these energy sources would be "less vulnerable to supply disruptions, whether of imported coal or gas" and would examine "the full spectrum of energy availability."
Another $15 million (P825 million) will support private sector development in the Luzon Economic Corridor through infrastructure projects aimed at improving connectivity.
The corridor aims to "provide a business environment that is conducive to further investment" by improving infrastructure like roads and railways to make it easier for businesses to operate and attract both domestic and foreign investment, Fritz added.
Despite overall aid reductions, Fritz explained that humanitarian and health-related programs will continue under the new foreign assistance program under Trump.
"We did not end our humanitarian and lifesaving assistance," he said, noting that health sector funding remained a priority and would continue as "one of the key areas where we will continue to be a very reliable and forward-leaning assistance partner."
The programs will include disaster readiness, global health security, HIV-AIDS, and tuberculosis prevention, the US official said.
Historical ties. Fritz also shared the scale of the US-Philippines economic relationship, saying total economic flows from the United States to the Philippines since 2012 have reached "somewhere in the neighborhood of $256 billion."
This figure includes foreign direct investment, philanthropic donations, development assistance, and support from multilateral institutions like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, where the US is a member.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration's sweeping aid freeze had resulted in the suspension, and later termination, of dozens of development projects in the region. While the Philippines is not among the top recipients of USAID grants in Asia, the freeze had hit at least 39 programs, including a Bangsamoro education project that was meant to run until 2029.
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