MANILA, Philippines- Binigyang-diin ni outgoing United States Vice President Kamala Harris ang kahalagahan na muling pagtibayin ang US commitment para depensahan ang Pilipinas sa gitna ng patuloy na agresyon ng Tsina sa West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Ito ang binanggit ni Harris sa isang telephone call kay Pangulong President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Martes ng gabi.
“Indeed, and I will tell you from my first visit to Manila and our first conversation, it is extremely important to me and to the United States that we reaffirm the commitment to the defense of the Philippines including the South China Sea,” ani Harris base sa press release na ipinalabas ng Presidential Communications Office (PCO).
Sa kabilang dako, sinabi naman ng White House na pinagtibay ni Harris ang kahalagahan ng patuloy na pagdepensa sa ‘international rules and norms’ sa South China Sea sa harap ng probokasyon mula Beijing.
Binigyang-diin nito na dapat lamang na suportahan ng Estados Unidos ang Pilipinas sa harap ng probokasyon ng Tsina, “and the enduring nature of its defense commitments to the Philippines,” ayon sa White House.
Inaala rin ni Harris ang kanyang makasaysayang pagbisita sa Pilipinas, partikular na ang kanyang naging biyahe sa Palawan noong November 2022. Sinabi nito na ang kanyang biyahe ay nagbigay-diin sa ”the vulnerability in the region.”
Winika pa ng bise-presidente na ang kanyang naging pagbisita ay nagpalakas sa pagsuporta ni US President Joe Biden sa Pilipinas pagdating sa seguridad at kaunlaran.
“I know there is bipartisan support within the United States Congress and within the US for the strength of this relationship and the enduring nature of it in terms of security, but again prosperity and to your point of people-to-people ties,” ang tinuran ni Harris.
Sa kabilang dako, pinasalamatan naman ni Pangulong Marcos si Harris kasabay ng pagbibigay-diin sa matatag at produktibong partnership sa pagitan ng Pilipinas at Estados Unidos.
“Madame Vice President, before I came to this call I was going through all of the things that we had discussed in the past couple of years. And it is remarkable how much work we have been able to do and how much it has progressed and developed the relationship between our two countries. Already very strong relationship but evolving and evolving for the modern challenges that we face, both for us and the South China Sea and for the United States around the world,” ang litaniya ni Pangulong Marcos.
“As I told President Biden when I spoke to him, I said that, I remember … just before we signed the trilateral agreement in Washington, that, I said to President Biden that this will change the dynamic of the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific. And it certainly has done that,” dagdag niya.
Pinag-usapan din ng mga ito ang trilateral cooperation sa Japan bilang isang mahalagang haligi ng regional security, kung saan tumulong ang Vice President na pabilisin ito ito sa unang leader-level trilateral meeting sa Jakarta noong September 2023.
Bago matapos ang nasabing pag-uusap sa telepono, inimbitahan ni Pangulong Marcos si Harris na muling bisitahin ang Pilipinas. Kris Jose