Marcos meeting with Biden in Washington may be firmed up next month, says Romualdez

Manila’s top diplomat to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez on Monday said the planned meeting between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and US President Joe Biden in Washington this year may be firmed up next month.

Romualdez, a guest speaker at the Foreign Correspondent Association of Philippines’ annual Prospects forum, said while Marcos is certainly expected to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit in California in November, Manila continues to “work towards a possible standalone visit” in Washington DC.

“We are looking at schedules,” Romualdez said, adding it may be a state or official visit. “The difficult thing is to schedule both presidents that will obviously be in sync.”

“President Biden has indicated that he definitely would like to see President Marcos come to Washington DC and President Marcos said that he would definitely would like to go to Washington. Now it’s a question of identifying the dates. Hopefully within the next month or so we’ll be able to identify the dates when President Marcos would be able to come to Washington DC for an official or state visit.”

Marcos’ state visit is expected to highlight his administration’s efforts to reaffirm ties with the US, a key turnaround from the hostile treatment by his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who vowed never to step foot in America.

If the US state visit pushes through, it will be the first for a Philippine leader in 19 years.

The last Philippine president who went to Washington for a state visit was former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2003, while former President Benigno Aquino III was there for an official visit in 2012.   

Apart from bolstering defense and security cooperation, Romualdez said increasing American investments to the country will be Marcos’ key priority.

Marcos and Biden first met in an informal meeting at the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2022.—AOL, GMA Integrated News