President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday night said the trade relations and partnership between the Philippines and the United States must be “continually revisited” so that both parties would mutually benefit from these initiatives.
In his speech during the dinner hosted by the Philippine Embassy at the Blair House for the President, his official delegation and key US cabinet officials, the chief executive said US President Joseph Biden has been “extremely” supportive of the Philippines in terms of economic transformation, among others.
“I was telling the President, it’s very hard to categorize the partnership between the PH and US as one thing. It’s not just in the area of defense maybe now there’s a prominent one that we hear about but in terms of trade, in terms of education, in terms of culture, in terms of people-to-people as it has come to be known, all of these things have been going on for a hundred years,” the President noted.
“But it still needs to be continually revisited so as we can make the most of our friendship and our partnership. And so that is the world as I see it today and the reasons that will come. That is why I am very grateful for the invitation of President Biden to come to Washington, D.C. and gain the opportunity to meet the leaders of the government,” President Marcos added.
The Philippine leader also pointed out that his visit to the US is vital especially during the “turbulent times” the relations between the Philippines and US went through in the past years.
“But similarly to our ambassadors’ friendships, like two friendships, you go to turbulent times when there are misunderstandings, when there are difficulties, when other forces prevail upon both sides of the partnership,” President Marcos said.
“But between the Philippines and the United states, we have prevailed through all that like a true friendship. And the reason for that I believe is that we truly have come to an understanding as to how we believe certain values and what is important, and our role in the world and that has never really been diminished,” the President added.
With the recent scourge of the Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, President Marcos said the balance and dynamics in the international scene have been “almost chaotic.”
“And I have come to believe that the way forward, the way that we will be able to navigate this troubled water, the way that we will be able to guide ourselves is to be strong, to have strong partners, to have strong allies,” the President pointed out.
“Since things are so volatile the stability would come from those alliances, those partnerships. And it is a strange thing to come from that situation where you have very polarized the world view, to come from that situation where now we have to look into very different directions all the time.”
He further stated, “i keep saying that we evolve, we have a mutual defense treaty that should evolve. It should evolve because the situation that we are surrounded with changes and we must evolve with that. Therefore it is extremely important that we have these interactions, it’s extremely important that we are constant in communication. It is extremely important that we understand what it is we are trying to achieve,” the chief executive noted.
Among those who attended the dinner toast were the US Secretary of Finance and Secretary of Agriculture and a Trade Representative.
Earlier in the day, President Marcos and President Biden affirmed a series of partnerships aimed at strengthening the alliance of Manila and Washington.
In a joint statement, Marcos and Biden hailed the “remarkable ties of friendship, community, and shared sacrifice that serve as the foundation of the U.S.-Philippines alliance.” (PND)
