BY: VANESSA BUGTONG
Over the past two years, the friendship between US President Joe Biden and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has strengthened the bilateral relations between the Philippines and the United States.
This includes numerous bilateral defense and security engagements between the two nations.
As President Biden steps down on Monday, President Marcos remains confident that the relationship will continue under US President-elect Donald Trump.
PBBM expressed, “As typical with the relationship between the Philippines and the US, it’s on every level, in every facet: on the economic level, on the diplomatic level, and on defense and security.”
During President Marcos’ conversation with US Vice President Kamala Harris, he emphasized the significant progress achieved under their bilateral relations, particularly in the areas of economy, diplomacy, defense, and security.
US Vice President Kamala Harris stated, “And I echo the President’s conversation with you about the work that you will do with the next administration in terms of reinforcing the importance of that trilateral cooperation and the critical nature of it to maintain security in the South China Sea.”
Vice President Harris also highlighted the bipartisan support for the strong ties between the two nations.
However, some remain skeptical about the Philippines’ friendship with the United States.
“The government will still be the one taking action,” said Mary Camaro.
In 2023, the US was one of the Philippines’ leading trading partners, with a total trade value of $19.96 billion.