MANILA (AFP) - The United States (US) will this year double military aid to its ally the Philippines, which is engaged in a prolonged maritime stand-off with China, the foreign department in Manila said on Friday.
The ramping-up of Washington's defence assistance will see military aid in 2012 jump to US$30 million (S$37 million) as well as 'real-time information sharing' on the Philippines' maritime territory, department spokesman Raul Hernandez said.
'We have been making representations for this since last year,' he said, stressing this was before the outbreak in April of the tensions with China.
The increased aid was confirmed during the recent US visit of Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto del Rosario and Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin for talks with their US counterparts Ms Hillary Clinton and Mr Leon Panetta.
No comments:
Post a Comment