US Secretary of State Blinken in Philippines to meet Marcos, Manalo

US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has arrived in the country for meetings with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his counterpart Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo on Saturday.

DFA Chief of Protocol Fred Santos and Office of American Affairs Assistant Secretary JV Chan-Gonzaga welcomed Blinken when his aircraft landed at the 
at the Villamor Airbase on Friday night.

The US Embassy in Manila said Marcos, Manalo, and Blinken would "discuss bilateral efforts to strengthen the US-Philippines alliance, through increased cooperation on energy, trade, and investment, advancing shared democratic values, and pandemic recovery." 

Marcos has a standing invitation from US President Joe Biden to visit Washington.

This is the first visit of a US Secretary of State to the Philippines in three years after Mike Pompeo in February 2019. —NB, GMA News