MANILA: On Tuesday, July 30, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. informed US Cabinet Secretaries Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin that regular meetings between Manila and Washington were necessary to guarantee “agile” responses to his nation’s maritime tensions with China.
Since Rodrigo Duterte was replaced by Marcos, relations between Washington and its treaty ally Manila have significantly improved. Duterte was overtly hostile to the US and sought to move his nation closer to China during his six-year term in office.
Prior to their meetings with their Filipino counterparts, which marked the first time the Philippines had hosted such meetings, Marcos greeted Secretary of State Blinken and Secretary of Defence Austin at the Malacanang Palace on Tuesday morning.
“I’m always very happy that these communication lines are very open so that all the things we are doing together, in terms of our alliance, in terms of the specific context of our situation here, in the West Philippine Sea and in the Indo-Pacific, are continuously examined and re-examined so we are agile in terms of our responses,” Marcos stated.
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