Our yearend report from the US

Since moving to Washington, DC, it has become a tradition for me to give a report to our Fil-Am community and potential US investors in the United States on what our embassy has done over the past year, specifically on developments in the state of our relationship with the United States.

We are pleased to report that in the beginning of 2023, we got off to a good start when we set the wheels in motion to organize the official visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to Washington, DC in May. It has been more than a decade since a sitting Philippine president visited Washington, and that in itself was already historic as it augured the revitalization of relations between the Philippines and the United States.

There is absolutely no doubt that the President’s visit to Washington was very productive, resulting in $1.3 billion worth of investment commitments from top US companies that could potentially generate as much as 6,700 new jobs for Filipinos. This is contrary to what the usual naysayers insinuate that the foreign trips of the President were unnecessary.

There is no question that the successful outcome of the President’s official visit to Washington, DC was also a consequence of his earlier trip to New York for the 77th UN General Assembly – his first trip to the West as President of the Philippines – where he had an opportunity to engage with business groups and top executives from various industries. More importantly, President Marcos and President Joe Biden had a bilateral meeting (on the sidelines of the UNGA), which was the first between the two countries after several years. It was also during that meeting that President Biden personally issued the invitation for PBBM to come to the US.

During his official visit to Washington, DC, President Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza were invited by the White House to stay at the Blair House, also known as The President’s Guest House, but PBBM politely declined, preferring instead to stay at a hotel.

It was a very nice gesture by the White House to allow the President to use the Blair House for meetings between him and his official delegation with American business executives and key US officials, mostly to discuss economic cooperation and related concerns. This was also where a dinner reception was held with all major US Cabinet secretaries present, specifically Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, then-Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Menendez, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Dr. Kurt Campbell of the National Security Council, Ambassador MaryKay Carlson and many other US officials, together with members of the President’s official delegation.

During my dinner remarks, I said the occasion was sentimental because I was reminded of 1982 when President and Mrs. Marcos Sr. came for a state visit and stayed at the Blair House. In fact, I happened to be on that trip as a news reporter for RPN 9. Actually, then-Ilocos vice governor Bongbong also joined that visit. The Blair House GM showed us the guest book signed by FM Sr. along with several photos.

The world has turned over so many times since then, but the relationship between the Philippines and the United States continues to be as strong as ever, remaining resilient despite the occasional bumps that happened in the past. Today, the defense relationship between the US and the Philippines remains solid and stable, with our one and only treaty ally reaffirming its ironclad commitment to our defense.

Both nations have been working together to safeguard mutual interests, enhance security ties and, equally important, achieve economic prosperity. As the President himself said, economic security is a top priority of his administration. Now more than ever, there is more business activity between our two countries, especially with heightened interest for investments in several areas that include the semiconductor industry on account of the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act or the CHIPS Act, with the US open to collaboration with the Philippines to “explore opportunities to grow and diversify the global semiconductor ecosystem.”

This coming March 2024, we will also have the much-anticipated US presidential trade and investment delegation coming to the Philippines to be led by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, with top CEOs representing over 100 companies who will be looking at additional investment opportunities in clean energy, green metals, agriculture, infrastructure, logistics, telecommunications and other areas. As the President underscored at the Philippine Economic Briefing with US investors during the APEC Summit in San Francisco, “the Philippines is ready to take off as a leading investment hub in Asia.”

The US has also offered assistance for the Mindanao Railway Project, with financing expected to come from the US International Development Financial Corporation (DFC) that invests in infrastructure and development projects to help developing countries create jobs and foster economic growth. The Mindanao Railway Project was supposed to be financed by China but last November, the Philippines decided not to pursue Chinese official development assistance financing for the construction of the railway.

According to the Department of Trade and Industry, the President’s foreign trips have generated $5.28 billion or P294 billion worth of actualized investments and already registered with the Bureau of Investments and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. DTI also reported that US investment inflows into the Philippines reached $250.39 million in 2022, but this number has tripled in 2023 with investment inflows hitting over $763 million.

One thing is certain – the United States is putting their money where their mouth is.

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