Marcos: 'Substantial progress' made in PH-US-Japan relations

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. on Monday said substantial progress has been made among the Philippines, the United States, and Japan since a trilateral joint vision statement was adopted in April of last year.

Marcos mentioned this during a trilateral phone call with outgoing US President Joe Biden and Japan Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba this morning. The phone call was supposed to be conducted on Sunday, January 12, however, Washington requested for it to be adjusted due to the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles. 

Marcos vowed to continue working together to enhance and deepen trilateral ties, especially in the areas of economy, maritime, and technology cooperation.

“I am confident that our three countries will continue to work together closely to sustain the gains that we have made in enhancing and deepening our ties,” Marcos said. 

The progress made include inclusive economic growth and resilience, crucial and emerging technologies, climate cooperation and clean energy, and promoting peace and security among the three nations.

Biden agreed with Marcos' sentiments, saying that the three nations “have made historic progress” since the Trilateral Summit last April, “especially in maritime security, economic security, and technology cooperation.”

“Since then, we’ve made historic progress in our trilateral partnership, especially in areas of maritime security, economic security, technology cooperation, and high-quality infrastructure investments … We should continue to deepen our cooperation in these areas, I believe,” he said.

Shigeru, for his part, emphasized that ''it is important to deepen trilateral cooperation in a variety of fields.''

In the April 2024 trilateral summit, Marcos stressed that the essence of the discussions was the security and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.—AOL, GMA Integrated News