USAID/Philippines Role in Civilian-Military Cooperation

Overview

The "3Ds" - Defense, Diplomacy, and Development - are the foundations of United States foreign policy worldwide.

The U.S. Agency for International Development's Mission to the Philippines (USAID) works closely with the U.S. Department of Defense – led in the Philippines by the Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group (JUSMAG; http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwhinde.html) – to meet the shared U.S.-Philippines goal of improving the country's conditions for peace and security. This well-established civilian-military cooperation has enhanced the effectiveness of US foreign assistance, spread the benefits of assistance more widely, and fostered goodwill towards America among the Philippine people.

In the Philippines, the U.S. takes a holistic approach to fostering peace and security, an approach which combines the efforts of USAID, the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the Department of Justice. There are numerous mechanisms for exchanging information between these and other agencies, with the overall aim of providing guidance and recommendations to the U.S. Country Team, the U.S. Government’s primary policy-making body in the Philippines. Close inter-agency cooperation gives all U.S. Government stakeholders an opportunity to discuss ongoing aspects of programs to ensure that all participating agencies have a clear understanding of overall objectives and the operational aspects of projects.

Disaster Response

The Philippines is highly prone to natural disasters and joint efforts by USAID and U.S. military forces have been a hallmark of the U.S. responses to major disasters for more than two decades. From the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo to the 2006 devastation of Super Typhoon Durian in the Bicol Region and mudslides in Leyte Province, USAID has worked with the U.S. Military

• to purchase and deliver relief supplies
• conduct rescue operations, and
• transport the injured to medical facilities.

Most recently, in response to the extensive flooding and casualties caused by Typhoon Fengshen in June 2008, USAID, the Philippine government, the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, and the Philippine National Red Cross combined forces in a highly-successful effort to supply and transport relief goods to many hard-hit isolated areas of Panay Island using US Navy aircraft.

When disasters are not imminent, USAID and JUSMAG meet in numerous joint disaster planning forums, often with Philippine government participation, to learn from past experiences and improve future responses.

Health and Education Activities

Health and education have been other fruitful areas for civilian-military cooperation. USAID's Office of Health in the Philippines regularly coordinates with the Department of Defense to determine the types of services that US military personnel can offer to disadvantaged communities via the Medical Civic Action Programs or "MEDCAPS". From May to June 2008 for instance, USAID’s support played a key role during the US Navy’s Mercy hospital ship (http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/usnsmercy/Pages/default.aspx) visit to the Philippines. The joint effort resulted in the provision of free medical and dental care to over 26,000 Filipinos, as well as the renovation of health clinics, a hospital, and a municipal health office in Mindanao and Samar.

In education, USAID's basic education program

• constructs and renovates classrooms,
• trains teachers, and
• provides books and learning materials to hundreds of schools across Mindanao.

The US military has teamed up with USAID, offering its unparalleled resources to transport educational materials and construction supplies to needy areas. This partnership has recently resulted in the transport and distribution of 5,500 books to schools in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, the shipment of 1,300 square meters of roofing material for schools located on island provinces in Mindanao, and the procurement of 250 desks for schools built by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF; http://jsotf-p.blogspot.com/) on Basilan.

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