Ambassador to Washington: Philippines-US defense arrangements will remain intact

Manila's ambassador in the United States, who spoke on Monday, said that existing defence agreements between the Philippines and United States would remain intact under Donald Trump.

Jose Manuel Romualdez, a reporter at a forum for foreign media in Manila, said that Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Philippine president, is willing to travel if Trump can meet him. This could happen in the northern spring.

Romualdez responded that "all of this will remain" when asked about U.S. support for security in the Philippines. This includes military financing, patrols on the South China Sea, and Philippine defence installations currently used by U.S. troops under their alliance.

The United States is a staunch ally of the Philippines, the former colony in Southeast Asia. U.S. forces rotate regularly into and out of this country and there are dozens of joint military exercises that take place each year.

The United States also sent a multipurpose Typhon missile system to the Philippines for training, angering China. China has said that the move is a threat to regional security.

Romualdez stated that the Philippines wanted to import liquefied gas from the United States in a "give-and-take" trade arrangement.

His comments come at a time when some countries in Southeast Asia including Vietnam and Thailand scramble to lower trade surpluses to the United States after Trump's directive to his government that it complete a review on all of his country's trading relationships by April 1.

"Trump wants the United States to help other countries become real partners," said Romualdez. He is the cousin of the Philippine President and was posted to Washington during the previous Manila administration.

(source: Reuters)