US Secretary Rubio, President Marcos reaffirm US-PH ties

National

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday, July 22, reaffirmed the bilateral ties between the Philippines and the United States, tackling the US-led Pax Silica development in New Clark City, Tarlac.

Marcos and Rubio met at Malacañang during the US official’s visit to Manila for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.

“This is a country that has deep ties to the United States, and we have a partnership that has gone strong,” Rubio told Marcos per a report by Inquirer.net.

“And so we’re glad to be here today to reaffirm that relationship, the US-Philippines relationship,” Rubio added.

Marcos, meanwhile, said the Southeast Asian region is experiencing the “curse” of “interesting times.”

While the President did not elaborate, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez said Marcos was referring to ongoing developments in the global landscape.

“It’s interesting times in the sense that there’s so much of these things that are happening and hopefully the partnerships that we’ve had, not only with the United States but other countries as well, will be a source of comfort for us that we have a lot of allies and friends and partners all over the world,” Romualdez told reporters after the meeting.

Romualdez also said China was briefly mentioned during the discussion, noting that countries hope to persuade Beijing to respect international and maritime law.

“China of course has always been a situation that is always part of the conversation in the sense that the hope is that countries will have a way to be able to persuade China to be able to respect the rule of law, international law of the seas, and so forth and so on,” he said.

Romualdez said Marcos also expressed satisfaction with the progress of Pax Silica and the Luzon Economic Corridor, which he said could help boost the Philippine economy.

“Pax Silica and the Luzon Economic Corridor are two of the main points that President Marcos has expressed. Well, I wouldn’t say gratitude, but he’s very pleased that it’s moving quickly and that it will definitely help the Philippine economy,” Romualdez said.

Pax Silica is a US-led coalition of 14 countries aimed at strengthening supply chains for critical minerals, semiconductors, artificial intelligence infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, energy, and logistics.(Mary Elaine Virtucio, UP Cebu COMM Intern)