MANILA, March 7 (Xinhuanet) -- The Philippine government is appealing for the full restoration of the US aid package as the country badly needs the funds for the fight against terrorism and development projects, a senior official said Monday.

    Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said that the US proposed aid cut should serve as a wake-up call for the legislators to expedite passage of revenue measures.

    "We need to do something. We need to speed up our fiscal reforms so that we will be able to stand up on our own as soon as possible," Bunye said in a briefing.

    Earlier reports said that US President George W. Bush has proposed cutting financial aid to the Philippines in 2006 by 30 percent, which would affect the military aid, the economic supportfund and development assistance and the children's health assistance.

    The reduction in the aid package is reportedly a result of a US assessment that the Philippines has "more or less contained the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (a Southeast Asian terrorist network) in Mindanao."

    US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone earlier also urged the Philippine government to learn independence and stop relying on other countries for financial aid.

    He said that the government has to create revenues to fund its social programs and that it is not the "foreign governments' responsibility to generate revenues to build your schools."

    "We're going to stand by and help you. But you can't depend on the US treasury to do what your government needs to do for itself," Ricciardone said.

    Bunye said that it was not a consolation that the US praised that country's efforts to curb terrorism if it would mean cutting on financial assistance to the Philippines.

    "On a positive note, we believe that this is an affirmation of the gains we have made on the anti-terrorism drive. But on the other hand, we will continue to seek a reconsideration of this proposal because as we all know, we need the funds to bridge our requirements for development in the area," Bunye said.

    The spokesman said that the Philippines would count on its "friends and sympathizers in the United States to prevent the aid cut," who have been successful in pushing for the Philippine agenda before.

    However, he noted that the country should stand on it own in the long run. "What we're saying is that we cannot always, we cannot perpetually rely on aid from a foreign country and there should come a time when we should be able to finance our own developmental needs." Enditem