08 October 2016•Update: 08 October 2016
By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
The European Union (EU) and United Nations (UN) have given no indication they will stop assistance to the Philippines, despite President Rodrigo Duterte telling international bodies to withdraw financial aid.
A report in the Philippine Star on Saturday said that despite being told by Duterte earlier this week that it “better choose purgatory, [because] hell is filled up,” the EU is extending 9 billion pesos ($190,000) in assistance to the country for energy-related measures.
The Star reported that the UN, for its part, has no plans to stop assistance despite a constant drubbing from Duterte, who has said that the country would survive without foreign aid.
On Friday the EU and the Philippines Department of Energy launched the Access to Sustainable Energy Program, aimed at providing electricity to 90 percent of Philippine households through maximized use of renewable energy.
“We see that the Philippines and the EU are sharing many objectives looking forward on issues such as climate change, sustainable energy, pro-poor agenda, trying to lift people out of poverty,” EU Ambassador Franz Jessen was quoted as saying in a press briefing in Manila.
Jensen added the 9-billion pesos financing agreement will run for three to four years, depending on “how fast the money is being spent and being used by the communities”.
On Friday, UN Resident Coordinator and Development Program Resident Representative in the Philippines Ola Almgren was reported to have said relations between the world body and Manila remain undamaged.
“We need to look at the broader aspect of the Philippines’ role in the UN and the work that we do here to judge that. I remain firm in my belief that that relationship will continue in as good a level as it has been in the past,” Almgren told reporters.
He underlined there is no way the UN would stop giving aid and expressed confidence “the partnership between the UN and the Philippines will remain strong as it has been as we go forward”.
“The Philippines is a member-state of the UN since the very beginning. It’s a question of what has been the contribution of the Philippines to the UN and that contribution has been fantastic ever since the beginning of the UN and even in recent years,” Almgren underlined.
Duterte has repeatedly lashed out at the United States, EU and UN over criticism of his war on drugs.
On Oct. 3, he said that President Barack Obama should “go to hell” following widespread criticism of his crackdown which has seen thousands of suspected drug dealers and users killed.
Duterte won the May 9 election on a crime-fighting campaign, and has pledged to curb corruption and criminality within three to six months -- but has requested a six-month extension saying he had not realized the severity of the “drug menace”.
Of the more than 3,000 deaths reported under the anti-drug campaign, 1,490 are under investigation as of Sept. 10 with authorities blaming suspected vigilante groups.
