THE Government can still fund ongoing studies and outsource technical assistance projects initially funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) amid Washington’s 90-day pause to foreign aid projects, according to a National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) official.
“With respect to studies USAID is supporting, these can actually continue because we can actually also provide funding for that,” NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon told reporters on the sidelines of a Palace briefing on Monday.
“It’s really more of the technical assistance part, which actually, we can source from other developers,” she told the briefing.
The US Department of State on Jan. 20 issued an executive order that froze foreign funding, with exceptions for emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt.
US President Donald J. Trump ordered the 90-day pause in foreign development assistance pending a review of these programs in relation to his administration’s foreign policy, which includes programs under USAID.
Washington had also ordered a “stop-work” order on Jan. 24 for all existing foreign assistance after Mr. Trump’s call for a review.
“We will have to wait for that issue to be resolved, but regarding the ongoing technical assistance, we are actually still continuing with the studies,” Ms. Edillon said.
She told reporters that USAID workers in Manila have stopped working for the time being amid the pause in foreign aid.
NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan earlier said the pause in aid is unlikely to cause a significant impact to the Philippine economy.
Washington provided foreign aid worth $60 billion in 2023 or about 1% of the US budget.
“We also have a good relationship with the USAID staff. Many of them provide inputs out of their goodwill,” the NEDA undersecretary said. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
