PH hopes for continued collaboration amid USAID fund freeze

Metro Manila, Philippines - The government is optimistic that its collaboration with Washington will continue amid a freeze on United States foreign aid.

In a statement, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo highlighted the significance of collaboration in key areas.

"We value our development cooperation work with the United States, especially in critical areas like education, global health, and disaster risk reduction or response. The projects have positively impacted the lives of many Filipinos and their communities," said Manalo.

"We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the US government to achieve mutually shared development objectives," the DFA chief added.

The Philippines, however, will refrain from issuing a comment on the internal review of US foreign aid.

"We will not comment on the internal discussions of the US government regarding their ongoing review of the work of various agencies, including USAID (US Agency for International Development)," Manalo said.

The Trump administration on Tuesday announced that it was going to put on leave all directly hired employees of the USAID globally and recall thousands of personnel working overseas.

USAID has a workforce of more than 10,000, with about two-thirds of that staff serving overseas, according to the Congressional Research Service. The agency has more than 60 country and regional missions.

NewsWatch Plus has reached out to USAID Philippines and said that it has yet to receive further instructions after the directive.

The Catholic Relief Services, another USAID partner in the country, also refused to give a comment.