Romualdez cites gains of Bongbong Marcos’ ongoing US visit

House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez intently listens as Presidents Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Joe Biden discuss key issues during their bilateral meeting at the White House on Monday afternoon (US time)

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s visit to the United States (US) is already bearing fruit for the Philippines, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said on Tuesday.

Romualdez, in a statement, said that Marcos’ official trip could be labeled a success already, as he was able to discuss defense, security, and economic cooperation with US President Joe Biden — as the latter vowed to send a presidential trade and investment mission as an affirmation of the long-standing ties between the two nations.

“This high-level trade and investment mission from the US will add more momentum to sustain our country’s economic growth and help establish the Philippines as a hub for investments and as a regional supply chain hub,” Romualdez, who is part of Marcos’ delegation, said.

“Such bilateral economic engagement with the US will not only generate more jobs and business opportunities for our people but, more importantly, it would focus on sectors critical to ensuring a resilient supply chain to avert the recurrence of serious disruptions that wreaked havoc in the economies of many countries in the past few years,” he added.  

Before the meeting with Biden, Romualdez said that the Philippine delegation was able to secure trade and investment deals with private firms, as well as cooperation agreements with the US government itself.

Among the industries and companies that Marcos and his delegation sat down with were the Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. of the Ayala Group and California-based Zero Motorcycles, which will partner in producing electric motorcycles in the Philippines.

Marcos and his team also met nuclear energy firm NuScale Power Corporation, which expressed interest in investing in the Philippines.  The said company offers a Small Modular Reactor, a compact and practical nuclear reactor that can be deployed in far-flung areas.

Romualdez said that these fruitful discussions are expected to translate to a brighter era of Philippine-US relations, adding that optimism is at its highest after the Marcos and Biden meet.

“We have found a wellspring of new hope for the Filipino people as President Biden and President Marcos Jr. discuss plans for a brighter future together. With a first-ever presidential trade and investment mission on the horizon, the Philippines can expect job creation and economic growth,” Romualdez said in a later statement.

“It is a promising partnership for progress and prosperity. What will follow is renewed confidence in the Philippines when it comes to investments, not only from the United States but from the rest of the world as well. This is a powerful message, seeing the two leaders discuss prosperity for our people,” he added.

Romualdez said he and the House of Representatives would work to pass legislation that will allow and encourage the facilitation of the trade investments secured from the US trip.

“This is our mandate and promise to the Filipino people: we will make sure that whatever investments we shall obtain from this mission shall find fertile ground in our economy. We will ensure that these will benefit millions of Filipino citizens,” he stressed. (with reports from Maria Liezl Projella, INQUIRER.net trainee)

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