MANILA, Philippines — A senior State Department official underscored that funding assistance from the United States government should be spent with the highest degree of integrity and accountability.
At a media roundtable at the US embassy in Manila on Thursday, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Jonathan Fritz said the review made on foreign assistance across the board after President Donald Trump assumed office took into consideration all sorts of factors.
While he does not foresee a halt to US funding assistance to the Philippines, Fritz stressed the crucial part of rigorously monitoring and evaluating foreign assistance.
He stated that Trump very clearly elaborated during the electoral campaign that “he wanted to make sure that US taxpayer dollars were being spent effectively fair enough.”
He noted that it is part of the transition to a new and more focused foreign assistance program not just in the Philippines but around the world.
“Anytime we spend foreign assistance money we very rigorously monitor and evaluate how those funds were spent and the results that we expect to get from them,” Fritz said.
“We still take very seriously our responsibility to spend taxpayer dollars with the highest degrees of integrity and accountability,” he added.
Fritz visited the Philippines to discuss the important role that US foreign assistance will continue to play in advancing bilateral relationship.
Under the Trump administration, he explained that the US has transformed its approach to foreign assistance to achieve a closer alignment between US delivery of foreign assistance and foreign policy and national security objectives.
“The Philippines, as a key US ally in the Indo-Pacific, is at the forefront of this realignment. It is also important to put US foreign assistance into the broader context of our bilateral economic engagement,” he said.
In July, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced at least P3 billion ($60 million) funding to support Philippines’ energy, maritime and economic growth programs.
The announcement of US assistance since the US halted its aid was made following the meeting between President Marcos and Rubio in Washington on July 21.
As part of the P3 billion initiative, Rubio also announced that the State Department intends to work with the US Congress to allocate P825 million ($15 million) to catalyze private sector development in the Luzon Economic Corridor.
“This was the US government’s first announcement of new foreign assistance for any country in the world since the beginning of the second Trump administration,” Fritz said.
The US Foreign Assistance Section at the embassy, according to Fritz, will develop and implement programs that will save lives and strengthen the Philippines’ resilient and independent economy, including programs aimed at disaster readiness, global health security, HIV AIDS and tuberculosis prevention.
The programs will also promote shared prosperity by enhancing energy security, promoting private sector development of critical infrastructure, and countering illegal fishing.
Fritz said Rubio’s announcement in July is “absolutely not going to be the last time that we’re gonna announce new assistance to the Philippines.”
“I think the message that we want to convey to our Filipino friends is, you guys were the first recipients of new assistance funding, and 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,” he said.