President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Thursday met members of the U.S. Congressional Delegation (CODEL) as he thanked them for their overwhelming support to the US-Philippines alliance.
“The fruits of those partnership, of those alliance that we are now forming to face up to these new challenges that we really had before are I think is very true although we are [coming] from resolution at least to manage the situation,” President Marcos told the members of the U.S. delegation.
“Again, on behalf of the Philippines, we express our gratitude for all the United States has done and continues to do in support of our alliance and to strong adherence for the Philippines,” he told the congressional delegation.
A U.S. Congressional delegation, led by Rep. Michael T. McCaul (Republican-Texas), Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Chairman Emeritus of the House Committee on Homeland Security, met President Marcos during a Palace courtesy call.
He was accompanied by Rep. Addison Graves Wilson (Republican- 2nd district of South Carolina), a member of House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Representative McCaul thanked the President for the Philippines’ support to the US. The American lawmaker praised the President for his “very strong” speech in the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last May, which was received very well for his stand on freedom.
“The supplemental (appropriation) is very important, we see Israel, see Ukraine, see Indo-Pacific—three areas in the world, three regions [receiving] attack from tyrannical governments. We see President Putin and President Xi made an alliance in Beijing,” McCaul said, noting his country makes sure that the Philippines is included in the Foreign Military Financing (FMF).
American officials made an announcement at the 4th PH-U.S. 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue on the proposed allocation of US$500 million for the Philippines out of the US$2.5 billion FMF supplemental budget for the Indo-Pacific.
The US is the Philippines’ oldest and only treaty ally. Bilateral defense and security engagement remains a key pillar of Philippines-U.S. bilateral relations and is carried out within the framework of the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), and other bilateral agreements.
On the economic front, the U.S. remains an important and strategic trading and investment partner of the Philippines, having a common interest in advancing agriculture and food security, promoting energy security, boosting trade and building supply chain resilience, enhancing connectivity and digitalization, and protecting critical infrastructure.
Last year, the U.S. ranked as the third top Philippine trading partner with total trade valued at US$19.96 billion. In the same period, the U.S. ranked as the Philippines’ top export market and fifth import source amounting to US$11.54 billion and US$8.41 billion, respectively.
The two nations established formal diplomatic relations on July 4, 1946. Such relations span 78 years.
There is an estimated 4.46 million Filipinos living in the U.S. as of 2022, making Filipinos the third largest Asian group in the country.
The CODELs were primarily interested in hearing the Philippines’ views and concerns about China and what the U.S. can do to support its assertion of its sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). | PND
