THE Armed Forces yesterday expressed confidence military relations between the Philippines and the United States will remain strong under the incoming Trump administration.
The US has been supporting the Philippines in pushing for its rights in the West Philippine Sea in the South Chian Sea, and has even sent ships in the conduct of joint patrols in the area to deter Chinese harassment.
“Our long history of shared values, common interests and respect for international law will transcend administrations both in the US and in our country,” said Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad.
“Our military relationship will remain strong. It is both in our interest that the Indo-Pacific remain free and open to all,” he added.
Senate President Francis Escudero said he “cannot foretell” what former US President Donald Trump, who won the November 5 presidential elections, “may do or not do” but he is confident Manila’s relations with Washington will remain the same.
“The country’s relations with the US was fairly well under his (Trump’s) presidency before, so I am hopeful that his assumption would bode well for our country,” Escudero said.
AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, at a public briefing, said the Armed Forces is optimistic the US, under a second Trump administration, will continue to honor treaties it signed with the Philippines.
She was referring the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty that mandates the two parties to come to each other’s defense in case of an armed attack.
Padilla said the two armed forces have maintained strong relations under different presidents because the treaty is “set in stone, so to speak.”
“Our activities continue and they (US) honor the treaty we signed. As you can see, we have been actively (conducting) `Balikatan’ exercises,” said Padilla, referring to the annual military exercise between the two armed forces.
“They have also been assisting us in HADR (humanitarian assistance and disaster relief) operations and other exercises between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and US (armed forces),” said Padilla.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte congratulated Trump on his return to the White House.
In letter uploaded on his Facebook page on Wednesday night, along with two pictures of them together, Duterte also expressed hope his new mandate would bring “renewed optimism and strengthen the American people in these challenging times.”
Senate majority leader Francis Tolentino congratulated the citizens of the US “for the orderly and successful exercise of their democratic rights.”
“The election of Donald Trump with a clear and commanding mandate should bring healing and stability to the United States which, in recent years, has been polarized by diverging opinions over politics and the economy,” Tolentino said. – With Jocelyn Montemayor
