MANILA – Despite being vocal about his friendship with incumbent United States president Donald Trump, President Rodrigo Duterte has expressed his will to work with America’s president-elect Joseph Biden.
According to Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, Duterte would surely maintain warm personal relations with Biden, which was proclaimed as the US’ 46th president on Saturday night (Sunday in the Philippines).
“The Philippines and the United States have long-standing bilateral relations and we are committed to further enhancing the relations with the United States under the Biden administration,” Roque said in a statement on Sunday.
“We look forward to working closely with the new administration of President-elect Biden anchored on mutual respect, mutual benefit, and shared commitment to democracy, freedom and the rule of law,” he added.
Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez, for his part, said he sees President Duterte having “a good cordial relationship” with Biden, who previously served as vice president to former US president Barack Obama.
“We’ve had good relations with this country (under) any administration – Democrat or Republican,” Romualdez said in an interview with CNN Philippines. “It may not be the best of friends, but they certainly will be able to have a good cordial relationship.”
“Even President Duterte himself said that he had never had any beef against the United States. He may have problems with former president (Barack) Obama, but I think with President Biden, I don’t see any problem really having a relationship,” he added./PN
