US eyes renewed ties with new admin on rights, regional priorities
THE United States Department of State is looking forward to renewing its special partnership and to working with the next administration on key human rights and other regional priorities.
In a press briefing, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said yesterday they are still monitoring the election results, where partial unofficial counting showed a landslide victory for presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his runningmate Sarah Duterte.
“We’re monitoring the election results, and we look forward to renewing our special partnership and to working with the next administration on key human rights and regional priorities. As I said, we look forward to working with the president-elect, once that person is officially named, to strengthen the enduring alliance between the United States and the Philippines,” Price said.
The spokesman stressed the US-Philippines enduring alliance is rooted in a long and deeply interwoven history, shared democratic values and interests, and strong people-to-people ties between the two countries as friends, as partners, as allies.
“We’ll continue to collaborate closely to advance a free and open, connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient Indo-Pacific region.
“We’ll also continue, as I said before, to promote respect for human rights and the rule of law, which is fundamental to U.S. relations with the Philippines and in other bilateral contexts as well,” he added.
The spokesman welcomed Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr. to Washington who will be attending the U.S.-ASEAN summit set from May 12 to 13.
His participation reflects the Philippines’ commitment to working with its Southeast Asian neighbors and the US for a sustainable post-pandemic recovery and a peaceful and secured region.
Locsin is expected to join Asean leaders in a number of events hosted by President Joseph Biden Jr. and other US government officials during the two-day summit that aims to enhance and chart the future of Asean-US cooperation, focusing on areas like pandemic recovery, health security, maritime security, climate change, clean energy transformation, digital economy, trade, and sustainable infrastructure, among others. By Cristina Lee-Pisco
