$336 million will be going to the Philippines despite the Trump administration’s foreign aid freeze.
For all of the controversy over the Trump administration’s foreign aid cuts, as well as worries that the administration will abandon old military allies in Europe and Asia, there’s at least one U.S. military ally in the Indo-Pacific that won’t have to worry about losing American financial support anytime soon: the Republic of the Philippines.
Given the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) ongoing acts of aggression against the Philippines in the South China Sea, which Philippine government officials have labeled an “existential threat,” these reassurances couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Philippines and America
As reported by Rachelle Tonelada of theManila Standard on February 26, 2025, Philippine ambassador to the U.S. Jose Manuel “Babe” del Gallego Romualdez, the United States government decided to exempt $336 million from the Trump administration’s foreign aid freeze to modernize the Philippine security forces. This prompted Romualdez to remark, “We are pleased with this development – another significant sign that our strong partnership and alliance with the United States remains intact.”
To piggyback onto that, Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza stated, “Both countries are committed to the treaty alliance and to efforts to further strengthen our defense cooperation and interoperability … We will continue to engage the US government on the importance of our bilateral work in supporting our shared goals and priorities.”
The Chinese “Existential Threat”
However, fast-forward to March 3, 2025, and Romualdez tempered his previous enthusiasm and optimism with a note of caution, noting that his country needs to be more self-reliant in light of the infamous blowup between Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the February 28 White House meeting: “We have to all be ready for that type of situation. It may be some other president in the future, but at the end of the day, each country now has to be ready to be able to beef up its own defense, beef up its own economic security.”
That self-reflection closely mirrors the reality that at least some NATO members are starting to wake up to, from previously miserly Belgium in Western Europe to Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia in Eastern Europe.
As already indicated, China is the catalyst driving the Filipinos’ sense of urgency:
“The Philippines faces an existential threat in the South China Sea and our desire to develop our defense capabilities to address this threat aligns with US interest to maintain peace and stability in this part of the world.”
That existential threat was manifested in a January 2025 incident in which the Philippine Coast Guard cutter BRPGabriela Silang had an ominous showdown with the Chinese Coast Guard’s CCG 5901, which is reportedly the world’s largest coast guard cutter. To put that proverbial David vs. Goliath matchup in further perspective, as The National Interest noted back on February 27, 2025, the Philippine Navy has a total of 61 units in its fleet, ranking it thirtieth out of forty national naval powers currently tracked by the World Directory of Modern Military Warships (WDMMW; by contrast, China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has a whopping 405 units.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr
Christian D. Orr was previously a Senior Defense Editor forNational Security Journal (NSJ) and19FortyFive. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published inThe Daily Torch,The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, andSimple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of theNaval Order of the United States (NOUS). If you’d like to pick his brain further, you can ofttimes find him at theOld Virginia Tobacco Company (OVTC) lounge in Manassas, Virginia, partaking of fine stogies and good quality human camaraderie.
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