Remarks of Secretary Enrique A. Manalo for the

Joint Presser on the Visit of

U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken

19 March 2024 

The Honorable Antony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States of America;

Our friends in the media, both local and the U.S. traveling press corps;

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon to you all.

I had an excellent discussion with Secretary Blinken today. His visit comes at an important juncture in Philippine-U.S. relations. We’ve been on hyperdrive over the past year or so. Engagements across issue areas and between and among government branches have never been better. The challenge now is how to sustain and further elevate our alliance and partnership.

Our discussion today focused on many issues. These include:

On defense and security engagement, we discussed ways to strengthen the alliance through better coordination at the policy and operational levels, to ensure that it remains relevant and responsive to current, emerging and cross-cutting challenges in the defense, security and economic spheres, while staying true to our commitment to safeguarding and promoting peace, security, and prosperity in the region, always anchored on the rule of law.

I also thanked Secretary Blinken for his Government’s consistent support, especially with regard to recent incidents in the South China Sea in the past year. In this regard, we discussed regional issues, especially the situation in the South China Sea, and I stated that the Philippines is committed to managing disputes in accordance with our national interests, the rules-based international order and international law, especially UNCLOS.

We reaffirmed our shared view that a strong and capable Philippines would make a formidable ally for the United States. On this note, I underscored the importance of more substantial U.S. investments towards enhancing our defense and civilian law enforcement capabilities.

We also discussed avenues for harnessing our partnership through collaboration with other like-minded partners, particularly in the framework of the budding Philippine-U.S.-Japan trilateral cooperation. In three weeks, President Marcos Jr. will be going to Washington for a trilateral leaders’ meeting. Our Leaders intend to capitalize on the complementarities between existing PH-U.S. and PH-JP bilateral cooperation, notably in infrastructure, critical minerals, energy, and maritime security.

On the economic front, we highlighted the robust engagement in the first three months of the year headlined by last week’s U.S. Presidential Trade and Investment Mission led by Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo, together with 22 companies in the ICT, energy, infrastructure, and logistics/financial services industry. That visit highlighted the growing collaboration with some of these companies and the potential for new partnerships, many in areas that would cultivate a future-ready workforce.

I welcomed the selection by the United States of the Philippines among partner countries under the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment or PGI and the ongoing work on a Clark-Subic-Batangas PGI corridor. This aligns with our call for a bigger American footprint in infrastructure projects in the Philippines. It would also support the ecosystem necessary to bolster connectivity in the country and our further integration into regional supply chains.

We have our work cut out for us but I am confident we will deliver on our respective countries’ and Leaders’ commitments to giving our people the good life and future they all deserve, marked by peace and stability in the region, a thriving and resilient economy, and an empowered community.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Secretary Blinken for this visit and for visiting us here in the Philippines. END