DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr said the $500-million security assistance to the Philippines pledged by the administration of US President Joe Biden is not affected by the freeze order issued recently by the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Teodoro said what is affected by the 90-day freeze order issued last month are programs under the Philippine Security Sector Assistance Roadmap (P-SSAR) which was finalized in July last year.
An earlier joint statement of US and Philippines said the P-SSAR “outlines the bilaterally determined priority capability requirements of the AFP and the Philippine Coast Guard to be supported by Philippine national funds and US capacity-building efforts, programs, and activities.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Education said several education-related projects funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) are among those affected by order freezing aid to various countries worldwide.
Among these is the project that aims to assist the DepEd in enhancing the foundation and reading programs for Kinder to Grade 3 learners.
Trump on Tuesday said he thinks he will wind down the USAID, in what would be a dramatic overhaul of how the world’s largest single donor allocates foreign assistance.
Chaos has consumed the agency, which distributes billions of dollars of humanitarian aid around the world, since Trump ordered a freeze on most US foreign aid hours after taking office and tasked billionaire Elon Musk, who has falsely accused USAID of being a “criminal” organization, with scaling down the agency.
In fiscal year 2023, the United States disbursed, partly via USAID, $72 billion of aid worldwide on everything from women’s health in conflict zones to access to clean water, HIV/AIDS treatments, energy security and anti-corruption work. It provided 42% of all humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations in 2024.
And yet it is less than 1% of its total budget.
Hundreds of USAID programs covering billions of dollars worth of lifesaving aid across the globe came to a grinding halt after Trump on Jan. 20 ordered a freeze of most US foreign aid, saying he wanted to ensure it is aligned with his “America First” policy.
The State Department issued worldwide stop-work directives after Trump’s freeze order, with the exception of emergency food assistance. Experts warned that the move risks killing people.
The joint statement of US and Philippines said the P-SSAR “will guide shared defense modernization planning and investments and inform the delivery of priority platforms over the next five to 10 years.”
“According to (Philippine) Ambassador (to US Jose Manuel) Romualdez, that is not affected by the ban,” Teodoro said in an ambush interview in Makati City on Tuesday night.
He was referring to the $500 million assistance that was announced in July last year by then-US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III and then-US Secretary of the State Antony Blinken after a meeting with their Filipino counterparts in Manila.
The assistance is meant to help modernize the Armed Forces and the Philippine Coast Guard which are at the forefront of deterring Chinese aggression in the contested West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea.
“It is the ensuing programs under the Philippine Security Sector Assistance that will be subjected to ostensibly a review, a 90-day review,” said Teodoro.
Teodoro said he is not worried by the US review and expressed confidence that defense relations between the Philippines and US will remain strong.
“It is just a review of the incoming administration. Insofar as defense is concerned, I’m not worried at all,” said Teodoro.
Teodoro said the US support to the Philippines “remains the same.”
“Insofar as my talk with the National Security Advisor Mr. Waltz is concerned, it remains the same. And we talked about even enhancing the existing partnerships,” he said.
“The commitment that our bilateral and multilateral activities will continue or be enhanced,” he added.
Teodoro said he will have a conversation with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the coming days to further discuss US support to the Philippines.
“But I’m very optimistic that the trajectory will not change,” he said.
DepEd Assistant Secretary for Strategic Management, Policy and Planning Roger Masapol said five projects funded by USAID are affected by the aid freeze order, including one worth $47.5 million that was completed last year but undergoing extension this and next year.
Masapol said this particular project aims to assist the DepEd in enhancing the foundation and reading programs for Kinder to Grade 3 learners.
Other projects are support for the DepEd’s Alternative Learning System worth $37.5 million, $2.77 million for a program for learners with disability, and improving learning outcomes and to develop assessment framework, with a $5-million funding.
Meanwhile, $1.25 million was allotted for gender and development.
“It will have a big impact. The impact is on the timeline of the projects itself. If these interventions funded by the US government are put on hold, it will have an effect on the speed of the process in achieving the reform process in the DepEd,” Masapol said in Filipino, during an interview with Teleradyo Serbisyo program.
To cushion the impact of the freeze order, Masapol said, Education Secretary Sonny Angara has directed the department to “mitigate” and continue the programs using their own resources for the meantime.
He said the DepEd is already looking for funds in its budget to continue the projects in the meantime that Trump’s freeze order is in effect.
Masapol said the said programs are critical to achieving the reform agenda set by Angara for basic education in the country.
Masapol also said USAID has been a long-time partner of DepEd in its efforts to improve the quality of basic education in the country.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo declined to comment on the US review and possible USAID abolition.
Manalo said the Philippines values its development cooperation work with the US especially in critical areas like education, global health, and disaster risk reduction or response.
He said these projects, especially those done with USAID, have positively impacted the lives of many Filipinos and their communities
“We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the US government to achieve mutually shared development objectives. That said, we will not comment on the internal discussions of the US Government regarding their ongoing review of the work of various agencies, including USAID,” he added.
The US is one of the Philippines’ top donors of the Official Development Assistance, contributing around $147.7 million in 2023. — With Jocelyn Montemayor and Reuters