Gordon backs rejection of EU grants

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT, Philippines – President Duterte made the right decision when he refused European Union aid that he believed was tied to conditions inimical to the country’s interests, Sen. Richard Gordon said over the weekend.

“As I always say, friends never demand conditions in helping each other,” Gordon told The STAR.

Gordon led on Saturday the inauguration here of a vocational training center donated by Bahrain’s Royal Charity Organization (RCO).

Gordon is also chairman and chief executive officer of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC). 

“My friends here, they do not give me aid with conditions,” Gordon said in a speech addressing Bahrain RCO officials present at the ceremony.

“You know you are a friend if you help not with conditions and not judge us right away,” he said.

Gordon lauded the Bahrain government and RCO for helping the Philippines “with no strings attached.”

Gordon and Bahrain RCO secretary general Mustafa Alsayed opened the Subic vocational training center a day after inaugurating a similar center in Tacloban.

Both PRC-managed vocational schools will offer training in electrical installation and maintenance, plumbing technology, carpentry, masonry, commercial cooking, bread and pastry production, seafarers rating course and a finishing course for call center agents.

The construction of the training centers is one of the Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) recovery projects committed by the Bahrain RCO to the Red Cross in 2014.

“These new vocational training centers aim to further strengthen already resilient Typhoon Haiyan affected communities and families in Leyte and in Subic by ensuring sustainable growth through education, which then leads to greater chances of employment,” Gordon said.

“By providing the students with relevant skills and necessary entrepreneurial skills, an improvement in the affected communities’ employment would be possible,” he added.