U.S. envoy confident alliance will endure

United States Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson expressed confidence Wednesday in the alliance between Washington and Manila, stressing that it would not be affected by the results of the US presidential elections.

“I am very confident about the future of US-Philippines relations,” Carlson said in an interview with reporters at the US Embassy’s presidential election watch party in Makati City.

“As friends, partners, and allies we have a lot to celebrate and there’s a very strong bipartisan support in the United States for this relationship,” she added.

Americans cast their votes Tuesday (US time) for either incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris or former president Donal Trump, who is seeking a comeback to the White House.

Carlson echoed earlier remarks made her Filipino counterpart, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez, on the US’s ironclad commitments to the Philippines.

“We have been through a lot of transitions. In my 39 years in the State Department, I have witnessed transitions from Republican to Democrat to Republican and back and forth and I am extremely confident that US-Philippines relations will remain steadfast,” Carlson said.

“We will remain steadfast friends and ironclad allies as well as partners in prosperity no matter who wins the elections in the United States today,” she added.

Indo-Pacific Region

Likewise, Carlson expressed confidence the bipartisan support of the US for the Philippines, particularly in the context of the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Indo-Pacific Region, would continue.

She said this was evident in the ongoing projects of the Biden administration in the Philippines, as well as the Trump administration’s support of the 2016 arbitral ruling on the South China Sea that cemented Manila’s rights in the West Philippine Sea.

“So there’s bipartisan support even beyond strictly the US-Philippines relationship here,” she said.

“Yes, there are nuances that will change with any given administration, but the strength of the US-Philippines relationship and the importance of the Indo-Pacific to the American people will remain.”

She continued: “That is why I am confident that whoever wins the presidential elections today, we will continue to see very strong bipartisan support not only for US-Philippines relations but for relationships in the Indo-Pacific and globally.”

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

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

China’s expansive claims, which cover almost the entire South China Sea, are anchored on its nine-dash line which overlaps the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, and Vietnam.