MANILA (PHILIPPINES) – After a decade long strained alliance with the US, Philippines is looking forward to maintaining “close and friendly” relations with them under President-elect Joe Biden, said a top Philippine official.
“We congratulate again the incoming president and we look forward to having close and friendly relations with the Biden administration,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque told in an interview ahead of Biden’s inauguration.
Ties between the nations began to sour after President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016 and embarked on months of expletive-laden tirades against the United States and threatened repeatedly to scrap their bilateral military agreements.
Though Duterte has spoken positively about U.S. President Donald Trump, he has remained critical of American foreign policy.
Philippine political analysts hopes the Biden administration to be more vocal about human rights issues in the Philippines than its predecessor , including Duterte’s signature war on drugs, during which thousands of people have been killed.