President Marcos said that he and US President-elect Donald Trump discussed the alliance between their countries and their desire to further strengthen their relationship during a phone call yesterday.
According to Marcos, the call with Trump was "very friendly" and "very productive," and he mentioned that he plans to meet with Trump as soon as possible.
"I think President-elect Trump was happy to hear the news from the Philippines," said Marcos, who, during his two years in office, has strengthened Manila's defense ties with Washington amid common security challenges in the region.
"We continued to discuss the relationship – the alliance between the United States and the Philippines. I conveyed to him our continued desire to strengthen the ties between our two countries, a relationship that is very deep because it has been longstanding," Marcos said to reporters in Catanduanes, where he visited areas affected by Super Typhoon Pepito and distributed aid to those impacted.
He also shared with Trump the "tremendous support" he received from Filipino-Americans during the recent U.S. elections. "I'm sure he'll remember that when we meet... and I plan to meet with him as soon as possible," Marcos said.
Marcos followed up his statement with a Facebook post showing a photo of him sitting at a desk between two Christmas trees while speaking on his smartphone.
The President aims to rebuild the relationship that cooled under his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who was openly critical of the US.
Last year, he made the first official visit of a Philippine leader to the US in over a decade.
Marcos is the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and former First Lady Imelda Marcos, who were helped by Washington to escape to Hawaii after the 1986 "People Power" uprising.
"How is Imelda?" Marcos said that Trump asked about his 95-year-old mother. "He asked, 'How is Imelda?' I told him, she sends her regards," Marcos said.
The Philippines, once a U.S. colony, is considered crucial to Washington's efforts to counter China's increasingly assertive policies in the South China Sea and toward Taiwan.
Austin's Visit Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also visited the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Western Command in Palawan yesterday, where Washington reaffirmed its support for the Philippines under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.
"Americans are fully committed to defending the Philippines," Austin said during a joint press conference with Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.
"It is hard to imagine a time when the United States and the Philippines were not close allies," said Teodoro.
Austin reaffirmed his country's "ironclad commitment" to the Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines. "I will repeat, the Mutual Defense Treaty covers armed attacks on any of our armed forces, aircraft, or public ships, including our coast guards, anywhere in the South China Sea," Austin said.
Austin also announced an additional $1 million in humanitarian aid from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for those affected by Super Typhoon Pepito.
The Philippines and the US also agreed to strengthen defense relations through new agreements, including the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) and the establishment of a new bilateral Combined Coordination Center (CCC).
The discussions also highlighted the security challenges in the South China Sea, particularly China's provocations against Philippine vessels.
Tensions continue in the region between China and its neighboring countries, including the Philippines, which is supported by the US, Japan, Australia, and the European Union in the 2016 arbitral ruling that favors the Philippines.
