Zubiri says Marcos’ US visit a home run

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri praised the success of President Marcos’ first working trip to the US as a “home run,” as other senators see stronger security and economic ties between the two countries following the presidential visit.

Marcos is wrapping up his US visit where he addressed the United Nations General Assembly and had engagements with the business sector and the Filipino community.

“To borrow a term from America’s favorite pastime, the President has hit a home run,” Zubiri said.

“His message that the Philippines is back in business resonated well, whether in his meetings with business movers or his one-on-one with (US President Joe) Biden, either in the stock exchange or in the United Nations,” he said.

He said Marcos’ face-to-face diplomacy is the kind that yields “tremendous dividends” for the nation, from job-creating investments to agreements that promote the social good.

“As the world emerges from the pandemic, there is keen competition for products, the need to boost trade and to expand markets. Luckily for us, we have a great salesman in the person of the President,” Zubiri said.

Sen. Francis Tolentino expressed support for Marcos’ recognition that the US remains the country’s most important economic and defense ally.

“This (recognition) is not a ‘pivot’ as this mirrors chronicled and deeply rooted bonds between Filipinos and Americans. There has never been a shift insofar as our historical alliance with the United States is concerned,” Tolentino said.

He said the Duterte administration’s recalibrated way of dealing with other countries is part of the dynamics of evolving diplomacy wherein the interests of the nation are always primordial.

“The recent events in New York should signal a more robust economic, military and people-to-people partnership with the United States, as it has always been,” Tolentino said.

Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda cited the strength of the longstanding and mutually beneficial alliance of the two countries.

“Our ties with the United States have both historical and cultural roots, and are deemed important especially during these times of global energy and food insecurity amid the climate crisis,” Legarda said.

“They are an ally we can rely on, especially as a balancing force in the ever evolving geopolitical landscape,” she said.