WASHINGTON, D.C. — The results of the upcoming presidential elections in the United States would likely have minimal impact on its foreign policies in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly with the Philippines.

According to Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez, the White House derby in November, which will pit incumbent President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump anew, will hardly affect its bilateral ties with the Philippines.

“We are confident that there will be no new major changes,” said Romualdez, when asked how he thinks the upcoming presidential elections would affect the US approach to the Philippines, especially with China’s aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Biden, who is seeking reelection, is expected to face off against a familiar foe: Trump, his predecessor.

During Trump’s presidency, the Philippines, under the administration of then President Rodrigo Duterte, turned away from its traditional ally, the US, and developed closer ties with its archrival, China.

Romualdez, who has been the country’s top diplomat in the US since 2017, said he expects there will be no major changes in American relations with the Philippines as the Biden administration’s “only continued” its predecessor’s foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific region.

Likewise, he stressed that the US stance in the WPS would remain unchanged, regardless of whether Trump or Biden wins the election, as they share the same view about China.

Last month, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said the Philippine government is monitoring developments in the upcoming presidential elections in the US.

In an effort to rebuild Washington’s and Manila’s relations, Biden repeatedly assured the latter of its commitment to the Mutual Defense Treaty amid Beijing’s growing aggression in the West Philippine Sea.

In New York City, Filipinos interviewed by DAILY TRIBUNE said they are closely monitoring the escalating tension in the West Philippine Sea, Philippine Consul General in New York Senen Mangalile said Friday.

Mangalile, who has consular jurisdiction over Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, said many Filipino-Americans crave news on developments in the WPS.

“Many of them will support certain activities that would give them more information about what is happening,” he told journalists participating in the Friends, Partners, Allies program in the US.

“A lot of them are sympathetic to the Philippines and they understand that everything goes on there (WPS) is a threat to their families back home,” he added.

Tensions between the Philippines and China have escalated in the WPS, often resulting in confrontations involving water cannons, risky maneuvers, and aggressive shadowing.

China claims the vast South China Sea, including the WPS which is within the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration rejected Beijing’s nine-dash line — expanded to 10-dash to cover the Taiwan Strait — in the South China Sea and favored Manila’s sovereign rights in the area.

Despite this, the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea remains only on paper as China has continued to reject the ruling and assert its claims in the area.