US Embassy denies cut in RP aid

The US Embassy in Manila gave official assurances yesterday that the Philippines would continue to receive the full financial support from the administration of US President George W. Bush.

Ronald Post, public counsellor of the American Embassy vehemently denied reports that the Bush administration is set to cut the annual aid package allocated by the US to the Philippines for 2005-2006.

"That is not true. There’s no cut," Post told The Star.

In a telephone interview, Post said the annual aid by the US government to the Philippines has been increasing for the past two years now, especially on the military assistance component and from the US Assistance for International Development (USAID).

For 2003, Post cited, the Philippines got $63 million in US military assistance and it went up to $71 million in 2004.

Post, however, could not recall the specific figures for the USAID and other assistance to the Philippines.

"But basically, it’s the same," Post pointed out. "It’s hard to give specific figures at this point, but we would be issuing these things within this week."

The Bush administration was reportedly set to slash the US aid package from $124 million to $87.8 million in the budget submitted by the White House to the US Congress for the new fiscal year.

The proposed cut could reduce military assistance to $20 million from $30 million for this year which started last Oct. 1 while the economic support fund was down by $15 million from this year’s $20 million.