US MILITARY AID | Washington offers $100 million in foreign military financing

October 14, 2022 , 06:10 PM

By Manny Mogato, News5 editor-at-large

(October 14, 2022) – Aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, the United States Ambassador to the Philippines announced on Friday Washington will make available a $100 million fund in military aid next year to its oldest security ally in the Indo-Pacific region, the largest military aid in years.

Interviewed by local journalists, Mary Kay Carlson said the US will help the Philippine military modernize its equipment by providing financing to acquire US-made heavy lift helicopters to offset a deal which it canceled from Russia last June.

“The United States is now making available S100-million in foreign military financing in part for the Philippine military to use as it wishes, but could well be use to offset the decision to cancel the Mi17 helicopter purchase,” Carlson told reporters, adding the increase in military aid was discussed in Hawaii last month by senior defense officials.

Carlson said the Philippines can actually use the $100 million to buy a replacement of the canceled Russian aircraft in June. The US has offered to sell its CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift choppers.

Former president Rodrigo Duterte had scrapped the 12.7 billion pesos deal to acquire 16 Mi-17 heavy lift helicopters because of the sanctions imposed by Washington on Russia’s unprovoked invasion in Ukraine in February.

The Philippines has already paid a down payment of 2 billion pesos for the Mi-17 choppers and it is uncertain if the country can recover the down payment paid to a Russian company.

The $100 million in foreign military financing represents a huge jump in security aid to the Philippines. From 2015 until this year, the United States has only provided about $475.3 million in foreign military financing, both in the form of loans and grants.

The Philippines is the largest recipient of US military aid in the Indo-Pacific region despite former president Rodrigo Duterte’s pro- China rhetoric. The US has five security alliances in the region, including with the Philippines under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.

Among the biggest items transferred to the Philippines were two tranches of ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) worth more than $18 million, a second-hand Cessna plane, and $29 million worth of sniper rifles and anti-IED equipment.

Since 2015, the US has delivered more than 57 billion pesos or $1.14 billion (exchange of 50.32 to a dollar) in security assistance, which include training programs in the US,, maritime security to increase maritime domain awareness by donating ship sensors and radars; capacity building to fight terrorism by delivering precision-guided bombs; and threat reduction programs by supporting the national coast watch.

During the meeting in Hawaii, the two militaries have agreed to increase the number of exercises and training activities to nearly 500 conventional and non-traditional military drills.

They planned to hold the largest Balikatan exercise next year when more than 15,000 troops are expected to participate, excluding troops from other countries which are observing the activities. Australia, Great Britain and Japan are expected to join next year’s Balikatan.

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