'May the best man win': No major changes expected in PH-US ties after polls, says Palace

MANILA - The Philippines does not expect major changes in its relations with the US whoever wins its presidential elections, Malacañang said Wednesday as polls closed.

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President Rodrigo Duterte can "establish an equally warm personal relations with whoever wins this elections," his spokesman Harry Roque said.

Duterte needed only a "year or two" to establish personal ties with US President Donald Trump, he said.

"You see the (US) state department ensures continuity as far as US foreign policy is concerned. So we don't expect any major changes in bilateral relations between the PH and the United States," he told CNN Philippines.

"And even if there is a new President, I am not saying that there will be, but in case there is a new President in the United States in the person of Senator Biden, I am confident that the President can also develop close personal friendship with Mr. Biden. May the best man win as of now," he added.

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Democratic challenger and former US Vice President Joe Biden has so far captured 10 states while Trump got 12 states, leaving them with 117 and 80 electoral votes, respectively.

--With a report from Agence France-Presse