The announcement that US President Joe Biden will be hosting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the White House during their bilateral meeting on May 1 definitely underscores the special friendship and the ever-strengthening ties between the United States and the Philippines.
President Marcos will be bringing key Cabinet members who will engage with their counterparts to cover many aspects of the bilateral relations between our two countries. As Malacañang put it, this all-important visit to the US will “substantively progress efforts to further deepen relations and political ties, to bring about lasting socio-economic partnerships, as well as to enhance defense and security cooperation.”
The bilateral meeting between President Marcos and President Biden will also reaffirm the ironclad commitment of the United States to the defense of the Philippines, with the discussion expected to touch on how the two nations can further deepen economic cooperation, promote inclusive prosperity and expand the special people-to-people ties that have been in existence for so many decades – underpinning the close friendship between the Philippines and the US.
I received so many messages expressing elation over this latest development, and I responded by telling them the stars seem to be fully aligned because the timing seems to be very opportune, with recent events and activities leading up to this auspicious state of affairs.
As we had mentioned in our column last Sunday (https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2023/04/16/2259155/philippine-economy-upward-trajectory), the economy of the Philippines is on an upward trajectory, with growth expected to be sustained this year.
In the most recent World Economic Outlook Report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the projection for the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth was upgraded to 6 percent from the previous 5 percent forecast issued last January. The Philippines is also expected to register the fastest growth in Asia, outpacing India, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand whose economies are also projected to expand this year.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) also gave a similarly positive outlook for the economy, with growth also projected at 6 percent. While the Philippines will also be facing challenges like the rest of the world, ADB Philippines country director Kelly Bird sees the country growing “at its potential this year and next, and is on track toward its goal to become an upper middle-income country.”
During the Philippine Economic Briefing we hosted in Washington, DC last April 12, the country’s economic managers led by Finance Secretary Ben Diokno, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe Medalla, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman and National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan were able to deliver a clear message to all the attendees composed of American business executives, US government officials, think tanks and those from the business, financial and investment community that the Philippines is open for business and is ready to engage the United States to further strengthen trade and investment ties as well as deepen public-private sector collaboration.
The participants were impressed with the presentations and the succeeding Q and A that highlighted how “the Philippine economy managed to weather the storms and stay the course towards sustainable economic growth” amid a challenging global environment, as Secretary Diokno put it. Among the sectors that generated a lot of interest include energy, information technology-business process management (IT-BPM), semiconductor and agribusiness. There are also tremendous opportunities in logistics, transportation, manufacturing, tourism, health, education and digital connectivity.
Aside from the IMF-World Bank Annual Spring Meetings and the Philippine Economic Briefing, there was also the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue of Foreign Affairs Secretary Ricky Manalo and Defense OIC Charlie Galvez with US State Secretary Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue recognized the important role of the alliance in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and put forth a shared vision that supports an international rules-based order and deeper economic ties, along with an “enduring commitment to stand shoulder-to-shoulder as allies to bring greater security, prosperity and stability to the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.”
Speaker Martin Romualdez – who was at the Philippine Economic Briefing – also led a delegation of congressmen to Washington and engaged with members of the US House of Representatives that included Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana. The visit was capped by a meeting between Speaker Romualdez and his American counterpart, the new Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy of California. As described by Speaker Martin, the meetings were very fruitful and engaging, with legislators from both countries recognizing the important role they play in ensuring that the benefits of the “dynamic relationship” between the two nations would become even more tangible.
“Our message to the US legislators was clear. The US-Philippine relation is strong, and is reaching new heights and levels of understanding under the administrations of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. and US President Joe Biden,” Speaker Romualdez said, explaining that the delegation of Filipino congressmen managed to impress upon Speaker McCarthy the need to ramp up discussion between legislators from both countries in order to boost bilateral relations.
In other words, the whole Philippine government’s relationship with the United States is on an upswing. But what is most significant is that all these interactions do not solely address concerns regarding defense and security but, more importantly, also focus on the economic aspect of the relationship as our nations seek mutual prosperity and economic security.
I hope those naysayers who continue to carp about our defense agreements with the United States would look more closely on the positive side of having more opportunities for trade mainly due to peace and security.
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