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Romualdez: US finds Marcos Jr.'s leadership 'refreshing'

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meets with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 22, 2022. Office of the Press Secretary, Handout/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/01/26/20220922-marcos-biden-bilateral-ops-1.jpg"/><figcaption>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meets with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 22, 2022. <em>Office of the Press Secretary, Handout/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — The United States finds the leadership of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. &quot;refreshing,&quot; Manila&#x27;s top diplomat in Washington said Thursday.</p><p>Relations between the 2 countries soured under the China-friendly former President Rodrigo Duterte.</p><p>&quot;Well, they find it refreshing, to say the least,&quot; Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel &quot;Babe&quot; Romualdez told ANC&#x27;s &quot;Headstart&quot;.</p><p>US Vice President Kamala Harris met Marcos Jr. in November during a visit in Manila aimed at boosting ties between the longstanding allies.</p><p>Marcos Jr. also met US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly in September, where both leaders discussed opportunities to expand bilateral cooperation on a wide range of issues.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/21/22/us-vp-harris-meets-marcos-reaffirms-us-ph-ties">US VP Harris reaffirms ties with PH in meeting with Marcos</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/22/22/marcos-meets-biden-on-sidelines-of-un-general-assembly">Marcos meets Biden on sidelines of UN General Assembly</a></li></ul><p>&quot;I think that overall President Marcos has communicated to United States that we&#x27;re here, we are friends and we want to have good relations with you,&quot; said Romualdez, who is a second cousin of Marcos Jr.</p><p>&quot;But at the same time, we have our own policy, which is in every way we can be independent of any influence coming from any country,&quot; he added.</p><p>Marcos Jr. has sought to strike more of a balance between his superpower neighbors.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2436398" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>Romualdez also disclosed that Marcos Jr. has instructed him to push for more economic activity between the US and the Philippines.</p><p>&quot;His administration&#x27;s objective is to really have honest to goodness economic prosperity for the Philippines and to be able to achieve that, he sees foreign direct investments as one of the main arteries, so to speak, in bringing in more investments,&quot; he said.</p><p>Washington has sought to bolster its security alliance with Manila under Marcos&#x27; Jr.&#x27;s administration.</p><p>These include the Mutual Defense Treaty and a 2014 pact, known by the acronym EDCA, which allows for the US military to store defense equipment and supplies on 5 Philippine bases.</p><p>It also allows US troops to rotate through those military bases.</p><p>Marcos Jr. is set to visit the US this year for the second Summit for Democracy and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation&#x27;s annual meeting.</p><div><strong>— With a report from Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

The United States finds the leadership of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. 'refreshing,' Manila's top diplomat in Washington said Thursday.