Cut in U.S. Aid to Manila Linked to Iraq Pullout
Philippine News, News Report, Cristina DC Pastor, Posted: Mar 28, 2005
NEW YORK — Nearly a year on, the ripples from the Angelo de la Cruz decision has come back to haunt relations between the United States and the Philippines.
In its budget proposal for fiscal 2006 handed into the U.S. Congress by President George W. Bush, the aid package for the Philippines was cut by 30 percent to $87.8 million from $124 million.
Foreign military financing was sliced to $20 million from $30 million and economic support was reduced to $15 million from $20 million.
Philippine Ambassador Albert del Rosario said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s government was “very unhappy” over the aid cuts to one of Washington’s top allies in the war against terror.
“We are very unhappy (about the aid reduction),” del Rosario said in a speech to Filipino American journalists during a reception at the Philippine Consulate in New York.
The envoy kicked off his remarks by strongly defending Arroyo’s decision to pull out Philippine troops from Iraq to save de la Cruz’s life, saying it helped unify the country and was applauded by an overwhelming majority of Filipinos.
While 50 Philippine troops were taken out of Iraq, more than 6,000 Filipino workers stayed behind working in American military installations, del Rosario said.
The decision was harshly criticized by the U.S., with the Bush administration strongly suggesting the Philippines gave in to terrorist blackmail.
Del Rosario later told Philippines News there seemed to be no official link between the troop pullout and the proposed reduction in aid, but conceded there remains “lingering bitterness” in Washington over the incident.
“There is still some lingering bitterness (over the issue),” he said, adding that there are enormous demands on the U.S. budget, and the Bush administration needs to tighten spending to rein in a runaway deficit.
Del Rosario also said the Philippines must work extremely hard, short of “dancing on our heads,” to draw the attention of key Bush government officials to its needs.
“There are 180 embassies in Washington and many of them want the same thing the Philippines wants,” he said.
Securing a higher level of aid has become more difficult with Washington’s preoccupation with the insurgency in Iraq and attempts to forge peace between Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East.
Del Rosario said the Philippines will launch a lobbying campaign in the U.S. Congress to get the funding cuts rescinded.
“I think we have a fighting chance,” the envoy said when asked to gauge their ability to convince members of Congress that the Philippines deserves more.
Meanwhile, Philippine News learned that rancor towards Manila runs deep in Washington officialdom with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld particularly angered by the Philippine decision to cut and run in Iraq.
“Rumsfeld is really sore at us,” a highly placed source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
The source said the Defense chief was particularly “scornful” of the decision by Arroyo to give in to the demands of de la Cruz’s militant Islamic captors.
Related Stories:
Philippines Leader Did the Right Thing By Pulling Out of Iraq
Bush Wants Aid Cut to Philippines for 2006
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