Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
April 9, 2024
Historic and momentous at the same time is how Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez, Philippine envoy to the United States of America, describes the forthcoming visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to Washington, D.C. to participate in the first Trilateral United States-Japan-Philippines Leaders’ Summit with U.S. President Joseph Biden and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan.
In an interview with RTVM, Ambassador Romualdez cites that the Trilateral Leaders’ Summit will “define the future of the Philippines and its role in the Indo-Pacific Region”, and for the peace and stability of the world.
“One thing for sure, the defense and security is one aspect of this relationship between the Philippines, Japan and the United States but more importantly is the economic cooperation. Economic cooperation spells economic prosperity and economic security for, not only for the Philippines, but for the region as well,” says Ambassador Romualdez.
Apart from the Summit, President Marcos Jr. will hold business meetings to explore cooperation in the sector of clean energy and boost investments for infrastructure projects in the Philippines.
“Our energy requirements in the next two years is going to be quite big. And the President knows that, and so he is exploring all possibilities of doing joint ventures and probably getting new technologies like the modular nuclear power plant. This is very interesting for the President and for the country as well. As you know, we have 7,600 islands and our energy requirements is going to be quite big, as I said, in the future. And so that’s one important aspect,” the Philippine envoy explains.
As to the benefits that the U.S. visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will bring to the common Filipino, Ambassador Romualdez says that, “aside from the fact that we are, the President is working hard to be able to secure our country, protect our territorial integrity and sovereignty and also, of course, the fishermen who have suffered long enough. So, we have to have these bilateral agreements and relationships to be able to move forward for the ordinary Filipino.”
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