Obama delivers aid package in Manila
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UNITED States President Barack Obama yesterday offered the Philippines a warship as part of a US$250 million aid package to its Southeast Asian allies.
Obama made the pledges aboard the Philippine Navy’s flagship, shortly after arriving in Manila for a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders.
“We have a treaty obligation, an iron-clad commitment to the defense of our ally the Philippines,” he said after boarding the Philippines navy frigate that was a US Coast Guard cutter until 2011, but yesterday flew the flags of the two allies.
Obama didn’t mention China, but the symbolism of his visit was hard to miss: the aging vessel is now a mainstay of the Philippine Navy, operating around China’s Nansha Islands in the South China Sea.
The Philippines, which has one of the weakest militaries in Asia, will receive the most support under the US package.
The former cutter will be turned into a warship, while the Philippines will also get a research vessel as part of an assistance package worth US$79 million this financial year, the biggest recipient in Southeast Asia, the White House said.
Vietnam will get US$40.1 million, while Indonesia will get nearly US$20 million from the aid package and Malaysia, where Obama will travel to on Friday, will receive US$2.5 million, the White House said in a statement.
Obama is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping today at the start of the APEC summit, which groups leaders from 21 Pacific Rim economies that account for more than half the global economy.
While the two-day summit is meant to focus on fostering trade unity, the annual event is often sidetracked by other global issues.
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