MANILA: The Philippines is working on a "mutually beneficial” strategy to boost economic ties with the US under President-elect Donald Trump, Manila’s envoy to Washington said.
"Our interests are very much aligned,” Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez (pic) said in an interview on Thursday (Nov 7) at his Washington office. "I am convinced and confident that there will be no major changes especially on the defence side.”
"Definitely, the economic part of our relationship is where we really need to be watchful of,” Romualdez separately told foreign correspondents in Manila during an online briefing on Friday.
Manila plans to capitalise on strengthened defence ties to continue scoring economic benefits from Washington during Trump’s second term, according to the envoy. The Philippines is seeking to sustain the flow of infrastructure aid and investment pledges from the US that ramped up under Joe Biden, as Trump’s protectionist policies risk roiling the global economy.
"It’s a matter of being able to negotiate a level that we would both agree is good for our countries,” he said of Trump’s plan to impose steep tariffs on all US imports, especially those from China.
Among the US’ oldest allies in Asia and one of the region’s fast-growing economies, the Philippines is preparing to mount a campaign to convince the Trump administration to consider the nation as a supply chain partner as the superpower rebuilds its manufacturing sector, the envoy said.
Romualdez said the Philippines can handle "some areas” in the US semiconductor supply chain. "It would be a quid pro quo where we can supply them and at the same time we are a trusted partner,” he said, adding that there are also potential joint ventures in energy.
The US is among the Philippines’ biggest export markets and sources of investments from abroad. The US imports semiconductors, car parts and farm products from the Philippines, and American companies also outsource services to the South-East Asian nation.
Romualdez isn’t worried at all that the next US administration would significantly alter Washington’s current strategy of countering China’s aggression in the region. It was during Trump’s first term, he said, that the US made the assurance that South China Sea is covered under the 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty.
Romualdez recalled Trump saying in 2017 when he visited the Philippines that the country "is in a geopolitical place where it is the most expensive piece of real estate” because of its proximity to the South China Sea.
If the South China Sea, which is a key route for trillions of dollars of trade, falls under the control of China, the US will be "severely affected,” the envoy said.
Manila and Washington have bolstered their defense alliance, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expanding US access to Philippine military facilities, and holding joint drills in disputed waters.
Romualdez, a cousin of President Marcos, has been Manila’s envoy to the US since 2017. He was instrumental in stabilising the alliance, after the relationship faced headwinds during the past administration of Rodrigo Duterte, who forged warmer ties with China and was critical of Washington.
The ambassador said he had been in touch with former Trump administration officials and other Republican leaders during the campaign.
"There are many areas where we can really work together. It’s going to be again a mutually beneficial relationship that we will have on the economic front just as what we have in the defence front,” Romualdez said. - Bloomberg
