Marcos congratulates Donald Trump on 'victory'

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Friday congratulated Donald Trump, whom he said has won the US presidential elections.

"President Trump has won, and the American  people triumphed, and I congratulate them for their victory in an exercise  which showed the world the strength of American values," Marcos said in a press statement.

The Philippine president looks forward to working with the returning US president on a wide range of issues that "will yield mutual benefits to two nations with deep ties, shared beliefs, common vision, and a long history of working together."

"I am hopeful that this unshakeable alliance, tested in war and peace, will be a force of good that will blaze a path of prosperity and amity, in the region, and in both sides of the Pacific," Marcos said.

"This is a durable partnership the Philippines is fully committed to  because it is founded on the ideals we share: freedom and democracy," he added.

He said he met Trump as a young man so he knows that his robust leadership would result in a better future for everyone.

Trump has claimed victory in the 2024 presidential contest after Fox News projected that he had defeated Democrat Kamala Harris, which would cap a stunning political comeback four years after he left the White House.

The former president was showing strength across broad swaths of the country, improving on his 2020 performance everywhere from rural areas to urban centers.

Trump went into Election Day with a 50-50 chance of reclaiming the White House, a remarkable turnaround from Jan. 6, 2021, when many pundits pronounced his political career to be over. That day, a mob of his supporters stormed Congress in a violent attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

PH-US ties

Over the weekend, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said the alliance between the Philippines and United States will remain strong regardless of who wins the US presidential election.

Romualdez said he talked to both the camps of Trump and Harris and they assured him the foreign policy will be the same.

However, former Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Cuisia Jr. on Wednesday said it would be more beneficial for the country if Harris wins the US presidential elections.

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, Cuisia issued the remark when asked how a Harris presidency would affect the country’s stock market.

He said the country's exports will become more expensive should Trump win the elections as he seeks to impose higher tariffs.

Though the elections will have an effect on the stock market, Cuisia believes that the results will not affect the US' position on the South China Sea amid tensions between China and the Philippines.

The US State Department has previously condemned what it called "escalatory and irresponsible" actions by China and reaffirmed its Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines amid incidents in the disputed waters.

In a separate interview, Romualdez said there would be no changes in the implementation of the Mutual Defense Treaty between the Philippines and the United States regardless of who will sit as the next US President. — VDV, GMA Integrated News