For greener pastures
It is a known fact that the United States was the strongest ally of then-President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos.
The strength of this alliance has not waned, even during the current presidency of Ferdinand’s son, his namesake, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. or PBBM.
And so, it was expected that PBBM would once again pay an official visit to the United States, to reaffirm the special relationship between the Philippines and the US, but this time to the White House to meet with US President Joe Biden, his second high-level meeting with POTUS, or the President of the United States.
This four-day official working visit of PBBM, his second trip to the United States after attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September of last year, was the first by a Philippine president in more than 10 years, and was touted to be the latest in a series of high-level meetings the Philippines has held with leaders of the US.
The visit kicked off with a bilateral meeting at the White House, then an expanded meeting with Cabinet officials, followed by meetings with legislators and key American business leaders.
“When we met in New York last year,” President Biden said to President Marcos Jr., “you told me that a strong alliance has to continue, quote — I’m using your phrase — ‘to evolve as we face the challenges of this new century.’ And we are facing new challenges. And I can’t think of any better partner to have than you.”
President Biden likewise said, “And we’re going to announce that — we’re going to announce today that I’m sending a first-of-its-kind presidential trade and investment mission to the Philippines. We talked about that very briefly — up in New York.
“And the United States also (remains) ironclad in our commitment to the defense of the Philippines, including the South China Sea, and we’re going to continue to support the Philippines’ military modernization goals,” Biden continued. “Mr. President, our countries not only share a strong partnership, we share a deep friendship — one that has been enriched by millions of Filipino-Americans in the communities all across the United States of America.” (Not surprising there that Tagalog is acknowledged as the fourth most-spoken language in the US now.)
Joining the President on this visit were First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, Speaker Martin Romualdez, former President and Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and members of the Cabinet that included Special Assistant to the President Antonio Lagdameo Jr., National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan Uy, Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo Pascual; and PAGCOR chairman and CEO Alejandro “Al” Tengco.
There was a time that the US was the Philippines’ number-one trading partner, but this has now fallen to number three.
So this official working visit was not just an opportunity to strengthen bilateral political ties, but business and trade ties as well.
Indeed, a “lean and mean” business delegation of tycoons and key Philippine business leaders once again accompanied PBBM to seize opportunities to finalize investment deals with American companies looking again, closely, to the Philippines.
From the private sector were Aboitiz Group chair and Private Sector Advisory Council chair Sabin Aboitiz; Ayala Corp. chair Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala; SM Investments Corp. vice chair Tessie Sy-Coson; JG Summit Holdings chief Lance Gokongwei; Lucio Tan Group director Michael Tan; Alliance Global Inc. CEO Kevin Tan; San Miguel Corp. president and CEO Ramon S. Ang; ICTSI and Prime Infra chair Enrique Razon; Philippine Airlines president Stanley Ng; Ambassador Jose E.B. Antonio of the Century Properties Group; Noel Oñate of the APEC group; George Barcelon of the PCCI; Ernesto Sta. Maria of Pilipinas Global Network Ltd.; Monch Cruz of Vesticom; and myself, representing both Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines.
These meetings resulted in commitments that included negotiating a US-Philippines civil nuclear cooperation agreement (123 agreement); cooperation on wind, solar, and geothermal energy; cooperation on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions from the waste, road, and shipping sectors; increased cooperation and knowledge sharing through the Science and Technology Agreement (STA); plans for the establishment of an Open-RAN Interoperability Lab in Manila; and plans to convene the first bilateral Civil Space Dialogue this year.
In his talk before the US-ASEAN Business Council, the President said that he wanted the country to go beyond mineral extraction and to actually produce batteries to prop up the local value chain. However, he also pointed out that it would need technology and strong industry participation to see this materialize.
The President mentioned the Philippines’ role in leveraging its mineral resources and floated the possibility of producing batteries in the country with the availability of green metals such as cobalt and nickel.
President Marcos said buyers of mineral products should insist upon declaration of proof that the products that they are being sold were built using green energy.
“And that, I think, is going to be an important part in making, hopefully, the manufacturing of batteries in the Philippines a success,” he remarked.
PBBM also met with the Pinoy community there. He was welcomed like a rock star. The US remains the top destination of overseas Filipinos. About 4.21 million Filipinos live in the US, making them the biggest source of OFW remittances.
“Filipinos are much admired in America for the excellence and quality of their work,” PBBM told the Filipino community in Washington DC. “Every one of you is an ambassador of the Philippines.”
And, speaking of ambassadors, this official working visit was successful because of the hard work and determination, as well as passion, of our main man in Washington, the Philippine Ambassador to the United States, Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez, and embassy staff.
Kudos as well to Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez for the success of this official working visit and, likewise, for his meetings with US congressional leaders.
Led by our President, who has shown an indefatigable desire to let all and sundry know that the Philippines is open for business, these officials do not merely rest on their successes, but continue to soldier on, with passion and patriotism, for the good of the country and the Filipino people, so that greener pastures, like those found in the US, will also be found here; that our countrywomen and men need not go elsewhere. Mabuhay! *
(We welcome your suggestions and comments. Please e-mail me at [email protected]. Follow me on Instagram @monsromulo.)
- Latest
