MANILA, Philippines — They may not end up being the best of friends, but President Duterte will have a “good cordial relationship” with former vice president Joe Biden should the latter win the hotly contested presidential race in the US, Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez said yesterday.
“We’ve had good relations with this country (under) any administration – Democrat or Republican,” Romualdez said in an interview with CNN Philippines.
“Quite honestly, there won’t be much difference in a sense that we have had very good relations with the United States all these years, whoever is sitting in the White House,” he added.
Romualdez said Duterte will not have a problem forging a relationship with Biden if the latter unseats Trump.
“Even President Duterte himself said that he had never had any beef against the United States. He may have problems with former president (Barack) Obama, but I think with President Biden, I don’t see any problem really of having a relationship,” said the ambassador.
“It may not be a best of friends, but they certainly will be able to have a good cordial relationship if Biden becomes the president of the United States,” he added.
Duterte previously threw insults and cursed at Obama after US officials raised their concern over human rights abuses in the conduct of the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.
In contrast, the Philippine President has repeatedly referred to Trump as a friend.
Biden served as Obama’s vice president from 2009 to 2017.
According to Romualdez, foreign policy advisers of Biden’s Democratic Party committed to recognize the arbitral ruling that invalidated China’s expansive claim in the South China Sea.
“We are very happy that the Republican administration under Trump recognized the arbitral win. It’s very important for us,” he said.
“We don’t know what a Biden administration will do, although we have had some discussions with some of the foreign policy advisers of the Democratic Party. They said that, for instance, the (policy on) South China Sea – where the Trump administration clearly indicated that they recognize the arbitral win of the Philippines – will be maintained. So that’s good in one way,” he added.