Marcos to visit Trump to discuss PH-US ties, defense, immigration
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President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said Thursday he would soon visit US President Donald Trump to discuss a range of topics concerning relations between Manila and Washington, including matters related to defense and America's controversial new immigration policy.
"There's much that we need to discuss between the US and the Philippines in terms of the trade, in terms of defense and security and now, the new policy on immigration," Marcos told reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Alternate Runway.
"Nagpauwi na yata ng ilang daan na Pilipino [It seems several hundred Filipinos have already been deported]. This is something that we have to work through and hopefully resolve. Because the Filipinos in the United States, especially, have really formed an important part already of their workforce. So let's see how we can influence policy-making in terms of immigration," he added.
However, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said that there was no definite date yet on Marcos' trip to the US.
There are 4,640,313 Filipinos in America as of 2023, GMA Integrated News Research reported based on latest figures by the US Census Bureau.
Further, data from the US Department of Homeland Security showed that Filipinos have the fifth largest unauthorized immigrant population in the US with 350,000 in 2022.
With the deportations now ongoing, several undocumented Filipinos in the US now fear being arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Marcos earlier said he 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."
The US has been the Philippines’ longtime ally especially in maintaining stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Both countries have been vocal against the aggressions by China in the South China Sea.
Manila and Washington are bound by the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), which can be invoked in case of armed attacks on Philippine forces, public vessels, or aircraft.
China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, including areas claimed by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Beijing has deployed an armada of vessels to protect its claims.
In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal ruled that Beijing's claim had no basis under international law in a landmark victory for the Philippines, which filed the case. Beijing rejects that decision. — VDV, GMA Integrated News
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