U.S. Sec. of State Blinken at U.S. Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin, nag-courtesy call kay PBBM
U.S. Sec. of State Blinken at U.S. Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin, nag-courtesy call kay PBBM
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00:00The Philippines and the United States have reaffirmed their strength in this matter.
00:05This is due to the visit of two high-ranking officials of the United States,
00:11according to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.,
00:14it is important to have open communication in the middle of tension in the Indo-Pacific region.
00:22Alan Francisco is in the center of the news.
00:26President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. was delighted to receive the visit of the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken
00:36and the United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin today.
00:39Welcome back to the Philippines.
00:41And I am always very happy that these communication lines are very open
00:48so that all the things that we are doing together in terms of our alliance,
00:57in terms of the specific context of our situation here in the West Philippine Sea and in the Indo-Pacific
01:05are continuously examined and re-examined so we are agile in terms of our responses.
01:12Two U.S. officials are in the Philippines to attend the 4th Philippine-U.S. Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue or 2-plus-2 Dialogue.
01:20This was led by the Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo
01:24and the Department of National Defense Secretary Gilberto Chedoro, Jr.
01:28But we are very happy to see you once again.
01:31I'm a bit surprised considering how interesting your political situation has become back in the States
01:40but I'm glad that you found the time to come and visit with us.
01:43In the DFA's statement, the so-called Dialogue was aimed at strengthening the alliance between the Philippines and the United States.
01:49This is through supporting the rules-based international order,
01:54economic assistance, and the solution to regional and global security challenges.
01:59The two U.S. officials thanked President Marcos for this warm welcome.
02:04Mr. President, thank you so much. Thank you for the, as always, the warm welcome.
02:08I bring you greetings from President Biden, Vice President Harris, along with Secretary Austin.
02:13Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin also did not forget to join the victims of the typhoon Karina.
02:19At the same time, they prepared to help the victims.
02:23To start by sending our deepest condolences to all the victims of the recent typhoon
02:28and to say again, anything we can do to be of assistance, we welcome doing that.
02:33Mr. President, let me echo Tony's comments on the warm welcome.
02:37It really is great to be back in country again.
02:42And also, it's an offer of condolences for those who have been affected by the storm.
02:50You know, I've said a number of times that we're more than allies, we're family.
02:54And it always feels that way when, you know, I'm working with our colleagues.
02:59Mr. Blinken also added that the 2 plus 2 Dialogue is a historic event
03:02because this event is a first for the Philippines.
03:06It's, I think, really evidence of a steady drumbeat,
03:10a very high level engagements between our countries that are covering the full range
03:15of issues and opportunities that bring us together, not only security,
03:19but also economic.
03:20And we're truly grateful for this partnership.
03:23We look forward to a very good day with our colleagues
03:26and to further advancing the critical work that we're doing together.
03:37You know, we have common interests, common values.
03:41And so I think we've done a lot over the last three and a half years to
03:45continue to strengthen our alliance.
03:48And we look forward to continuing to work with you and your team to move even further.
03:54All of the things that we have done in the previous months has been really,
04:02serves really to make all our alliances and partnerships more,
04:09actually have a working relationship in the sense that lines of communications have been opened.
04:19And it's, again, we are doing many more things together.