PBBM, Biden hold first bilateral talks; put premium on bolstering ties, maintaining peace

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Thursday expressed commitment to improving ties with its longstanding ally, the United States, in a historic meeting with US President Joe Biden in New York City.

“We are your partners, we are your allies, we are your friends. And in like fashion, we have always considered the United States our partner, our ally and our friend,” Marcos told Biden in a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Marcos noted the Philippines and the United States’ “very strong foundation of a very long relationship and strong relationships on various facets.”

He also expressed hope that the two countries can further strengthen their bid to maintain peace despite all the complexities that have arisen in the past few months.

“And I hope that we will be able to discuss further the roles that our two countries will play together and individually as we continue down that road,” Marcos said. Biden, for his part, sought strengthened ties with the Philippines after what he described as “rocky times” in the past. between the United States and the Philippines, to state the obvious, has very deep roots. We’ve had some rocky times but the fact is it’s a critical, critical relationship from our perspective,” he told the Philippine leader.

Biden also noted that the Philippines was one of the United States’ allies to quickly condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “And we also thank you for your position on the war against Ukraine and — by Russia. And how it’s impacting energy prices and food prices. And we are working very hard to be able to do something about that,” said Biden. (PND)