“HISTORIC and fruitful.”

This is how Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez described themeeting he had with his United States (US) counterpart, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Republican, California).

“Our meeting proved fruitful as the Philippine delegation managed to impress on Speaker McCarthy the need for the legislative representatives of the two countries to ramp up discussions on how to further boost US-Philippine relations,” Romualdez said in a statement.

“Philippine-US relations remain strong. Our security alliance under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty is ironclad. Our economic partnership is robust. And the friendship between our two peoples is solid,” he stressed.

It was the first interaction between the House Speakers of the two countries in recent years.

According to the House leader, they agreed on improving linkages and communication, synergy,coordination, and sharing of best practices between their institutions.

“We were thankful that the Speaker shared our ideals and agreed to continue similar discussions in the future,” he said.

The House leader invited his counterpart and the third highest-ranking US official to visit the Philippines soon and attend the country’s hosting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF).

The two leaders met at the US Capitol on late Wednesday night (Manila time), shortly before Speaker Romualdez flew to Boston to honor an invitation to Speaker before Harvard University officials, faculty members and students on Philippine-US security cooperation, and regional and domestic peace, stability and economic issues.

“Our message to the US legislators was clear. The US-Philippine relation is strong, and is reaching new heights and levels of understanding under the administrations of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. and US President Joe Biden. Our defense and security arrangements are solid, and our bilateral strategic partnership is working,” he said.

“However, we also pointed out the need to step up bilateral discussions on economic issues to make the benefits of this dynamic relationship more tangible tenfold for our people. We need to strengthen not only our defense cooperation, but also our economic partnership,” he said.

He was joined in the meeting with Speaker McCarthy by Deputy Speaker and Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr. and Majority Leader Jose Manuel Dalipe and Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez.

The other members of Speaker Romualdez’s delegation include Navotas City Rep. Tobias “Toby” Tiangco, Agusan del Norte 1st District Rep. Jose “Joboy” S. Aquino II, House Secretary General Reginald “Reggie” Velasco, and House Sergeant-at-Arms PMGEN Napoleon Taas.

The Speaker reported that his group also had meetings at the US Capital with key leaders of the US Congress, including Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and Representatives Young Kim, Mike Rogers, Darrell Issa, Ami Bera, and Chris Stewart.