Energy, food security on agenda when Marcos, Biden meet

Energy and food security could be on the agenda in the bilateral meeting between President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and US President Joe Biden in Washington next month.

United States Ambassador to the Philippines Marykay Carlson said the specific topics of the meeting are still being discussed.  But she mentioned the ''123 Agreement,'' which is a landmark deal that would allow Washington to export nuclear technology and material to Manila. 

''You can expect for example looking at the common struggles that we have, whether it's energy security, food security. We’re very excited that the Civil Nuclear Agreement, the 123 agreement, was the fastest-ever negotiated agreement in the history of the US. Having that agreement shows the importance of working together to assist the Philippines as they confront their energy security issues,'' Carlson said in an exclusive interview with Pia Arcangel of GMA Integrated News.

''So we look forward for example to agreements that will help build up the necessary frameworks so that several nuclear engineers in the regulatory environment will be receptive to bringing on nuclear energy in a way that will bring clean and will bring down energy costs for the Philippines in the future,'' she added. 

The bilateral meeting will be a separate agenda from the trilateral discussions of the US, Philippines and Japan leaders.

Carlson says she sees the meeting as historic and will also set the direction for the future. 

''I think that security will be one of the issues that will be discussed but it won’t be the only issue," she said.

"When we look at all three countries, we will see a very vibrant bilateral relationships that already exist – US-Japan, US-PH, PH-JP and knitting those networks together, those relations together, to look for synergies, to see what our common challenges are, how they can bring to bear our respective strengths and complement each other,'' she added.

''I think it’s a historic time to have the three leaders meeting together and to set that direction for our future – not just in this region, but for the entire globe,'' the ambassador also said.

The White House earlier announced that US President Joe Biden will host Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on April 11 for the first trilateral U.S.-Japan-Philippines leaders’ summit aimed at reaffirming their "ironclad alliance.'' 

The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed Marcos' participation in the event. 

At the summit in Washington D.C., the three leaders will also discuss trilateral cooperation "to promote inclusive economic growth and emerging technologies, advance clean energy supply chains and climate cooperation, and further peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and around the world.''—LDF, GMA Integrated News