US clarifies report on $1-M aid

MANILA, Philippines - The US government has not agreed to provide $1 million in aid to set up a maritime security facility in Mindanao, the US embassy clarified yesterday.

Correcting a STAR report from Zamboanga, embassy spokesperson Molly Koscina said Zamboanga City Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar agreed with visiting US Ambassador  Sung Kim “to explore opportunities” for improving the capacity of the Philippine National Police Maritime Group to monitor the city’s waters and shoreline.

The two officials “enjoyed a very friendly and productive discussion” on the mayor’s vision for Zamboanga, and Salazar thanked Kim for the many assistance projects and programs the US has implemented in the city, Koscina said.

Kim did not give interviews, but Salazar said the city government asked the envoy to extend the US grant that would expire this year.

“They had a great discussion about Zamboanga,” Koscina told The STAR yesterday. “The reporting doesn’t quite capture how the meeting went.”

Koscina also clarified that Kim did not meet with Filipino commanders at the headquarters of the Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga because the envoy had met earlier this week in Manila with Westmincom chief Maj. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr.

Kim instead visited US troops stationed at the Westmincom headquarters. The US forces are providing technical assistance to their Philippine counterparts in counterterrorism.