PH looks forward to working with France's Macron: Palace

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte is eager to work with his newly elected French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, Malacañang said Monday.

"France is one of the biggest trading partners of the Philippines in the European Union (EU), and we look forward to working with the incoming Macron administration to enhance PH-FR (Philippine-France) bilateral relations," Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement.

Macron has campaigned on a promise of business-friendly European integration.

With 65.5 percent of national votes, he defeated rival Marine Le Pen, a far-right nationalist who threatened to take France out of the EU.

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The centrist's emphatic victory, which also smashed the dominance of France’s mainstream parties, will bring huge relief to European allies who had feared another populist upheaval to follow Britain's vote to quit the EU.

Duterte has hurled insults against the EU for criticizing his crackdown on narcotics, which has seen thousands of drug suspects killed in police shootouts and vigilante killings.

The EU is currently reviewing whether the Philippines can still qualify for trade incentives that are pre-conditioned on compliance with international agreements, including those on human rights.

A monitoring team from the EU earlier arrived in the country for an assessment of the country’s trade perks under the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP+), which allows the Philippines to export to the EU without duties or with reduced tariffs.

-- With Agence France-Presse

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