BY S.I. RAFFLE
IT IS high time to review our dependence on foreign aid. Some of our country’s important initiatives are still dependent on foreign assistance, particularly with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which has 39 development projects, according to reports. It includes environmental protection, basic education, HIV/AIDS, energy, basic health, disaster prevention and preparedness, maternal and child health family planning among others.
These programs are mostly managed by Non-Government Organizations which have felt the effects of the fund freeze. Some have stopped their operations all over Mindanao because it is connected to USAID. As a former NGO worker, I felt anxiety over these uncertainties of employment and continuation of programs and services.
Now that the US has shaken the world with its tariffs and freezing of foreign aid, our national government must take the helm and continue these programs until funding is restored which is highly unlikely.
The Presidents of Mexico and Canada have requested a 30-day pause on tariffs to be implemented. Both leaders have complied with the request to secure its borders and prevent drugs from entering the US. President Donald Trump has been very firm on border security and these agreements were centered on this issue.
With Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) taking over USAID this week, the agency’s workers and leadership were removed, and the money was inaccessible for use. It remains uncertain if foreign aid will continue for the years to come. In recent reports, USAID will undergo a review of its foreign assistance activities and its potential reorganization.
With the aid for essential services frozen, the NGOs will close down and the workers lose their livelihoods. Our disaster prevention projects will shut down, thus, disabling other essential monitoring units. HIV, for example, has been on the rise and it needs to be handled by those who have been trained.
Our national leaders should look intently at this issue with at least 4 billion pesos assistance from USAID suspended. Our president can solve this with the transfer of these workers, equipment, data, and other resources into the government fold. Programs can be continued by the city, provincial, or national management.
I hope this will not be taken lightly. We have been recipients of this aid since 1961. And it had invested billions of pesos to achieve common goals for the development of the Filipino people and for protecting us from calamities and disasters. We should not be too dependent to the point of drawing to a close all these wonderful programs. It is high time to stand on our own two feet.
