US earmarks P3-B aid for PH, 1st since aid pause

IRON-CLAD ALLIANCE. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meets with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, DC on July 21, 2025. On Wednesday (July 23, 2025), the US Department of State announced at least PHP3 billion (USD60 million) in foreign assistance funding for the Philippines, reaffirming the US’ ironclad commitment to the US-PH alliance. (Photo: US Embassy in Manila)

By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – The United States government has allocated approximately PHP3 billion (USD60 million) in foreign assistance to the Philippines, the first such announcement to any country since the US paused most of its foreign aid commitments in January.

The US Embassy in Manila confirmed on Wednesday that the funding, coursed through the US Department of State, will support programs in energy, maritime security, and economic growth in the Philippines.

The aid announcement comes after the meeting between President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, DC on July 21.

“This is the US government’s first announcement of new foreign assistance for any country since the Trump Administration began its review and realignment of foreign assistance in January,” the embassy said in a statement.

The State Department, meanwhile, announced its intention to work with the US Congress to allocate PHP825 million (USD15 million) of the total funding to catalyze private sector development in the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC).

If approved, this would support investments in transport, logistics, energy, and semiconductors in Luzon.

The Philippines, the US, and Japan launched the LEC in April 2024 to back development in Luzon, with the Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas (SCMB) Cargo Railway as its flagship project.

Under LEC, the three countries commit to accelerating coordinated investments in high-impact infrastructure projects, including port modernization, clean energy, semiconductor supply chains and deployments, agribusiness, and civilian port upgrades at Subic Bay.

The embassy said Marcos’ meetings with US President Donald Trump, Rubio, and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in Washington, DC this week “reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to the US-Philippines Alliance and advanced closer economic ties between the two nations.”