US slashes AFP aid to RP, cites corruption, killings (tags)
he United States has slashed its development and military assistance to the Philippines from $116.6 million in 2008 to $99.2 million in 2009, citing corruption and extra-judicial killings as reasons, a report yesterday said. In its 2009 congressional budget justification report for East Asia and the Pacific, the State Department said the aid for the Philippines “represents an overall decrease from the FY 2008 level.”
Palace alarmed, denies slash: US State Dep’t cuts aid to RP military (tags)
Aid to the Philippine military has been from slashed from some $30 million to a mere $11 million for 2008 or a cut of two thirds, by the United States State Department, as shown in its Web site. Malacañang executives, clearly alarmed at the report, yesterday claimed that the report was false, while US Embassy spokesman Matthew Lussenhop failed to provide a categorical response on whether there was a slashing of military aid, saying instead that no US budget has been submitted as yet and that the budget is a “complex” and “negotiated” procedure by Congress, even when the Web site of the State Department showed the slashed figures, which the Washington Post reported was personally allocated by State Secretary Condoleezza Rice, country by country. The Congress Web site, moreover, showed a higher aid figure for the Philippines.
Esperon’s marching orders: Crush Reds (tags)
President Arroyo has given incoming Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon his marching orders: Crush the 37-year-old communist rebellion and the groups plotting to destabilize the administration.