MANILA 28 January 2021 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. received the call today of United States Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken. The two Foreign Secretaries reaffirmed the need to work closely together to strengthen the alliance between the Philippines and the United States. Secretary Locsin expressed his support for the Mutual Defense Treaty and underscored the need for both sides to work together to sustain and strengthen the Treaty. The same with the Visiting Forces Agreement which operationalized the MDT. In predictability, he said, lay safety when powers big and small did geopolitics by the same playbook known to all protagonists. Secretary Locsin conveyed that he looks forward to bilateral dialogues between the Philippines and United States to discuss the way forward. Secretary Locsin said he would welcome the help extended in the past by the United States to the Philippines’ fight against illegal drugs as he had experienced in a previous administration. Secretary Locsin expressed optimism that the Philippines-United States alliance, under the Biden administration and with Secretary Blinken at the helm of foreign relations, will be further strengthened moving forward.
(DFA-PR)
