PH wants to ensure relations with the United States are ‘strong’ after Biden’s victory: sent

MANILA – The Philippines wants to make sure its bilateral relations with the United States are strong following the election of Democrat Joe Biden as president, the Manila envoy in Washington said on Monday.

The majority or 60 percent of some 2 million Filipino-American voters chose Obama’s former Vice President Biden in the race for the White House, according to the Philippine Ambassador to the United States, José Manuel Romualdez.

Most were likely from California, one of the largest Filipino communities and a Democratic jurisdiction, he said. Some Filipinos in the northeastern and southern United States voted for former President Donald Trump, he added.

Romualdez had warned of “a series of people who will try to take advantage of the situation and try to put a wedge” between Biden and President Rodrigo Duterte.

“You know this is not a kind of personal situation. The important thing is the general. I think those who are trying to intrigue have their own agenda. It is not good for the Philippines to have important issues and problems that could affect us,” he told Headstart of ANC.

“We want to make sure that the relationship (with the US) is strong and that all the accolades we have are current.”

Malacañang previously said that Duterte can “establish equally warm personal relationships with whoever wins” the election, and said the Filipino leader only needed “a year or two” to establish ties with Trump.

The issues of human rights and freedom of the press can “very well be resolved simply with a dialogue and explaining what we are doing in regards to those issues,” Romualdez said.

Trump signed a law last year that included an amendment authorizing the US secretary of state to prohibit the Filipinos behind the arrest of Sen. Leila de Lima from setting foot on US soil.

The United States Senate, of which Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was a member, earlier this year passed a resolution urging Trump to impose sanctions on the same Filipino officials behind De Lima’s arrest.

On the immigration issue, there are currently about 350,000 deportation cases pending against Filipinos, Romualdez said.

Biden is expected to reverse much of Trump’s immigration legacy and seek a path to citizenship for some 11 million immigrants living illegally in the United States, a campaign official told Reuters.

The US Supreme Court had rejected Trump’s proposal to end a program that protects hundreds of thousands of immigrants or “Dreamers” who entered the United States illegally as children from deportation.

“I think it is a positive move by the new administration. The US immigration policy, the effect has not been as good as we expected. There are 350,000 pending deportation cases (against Filipinos) that are now being heard in court. “Romualdez said.

“We are trying to help them in every possible way, but we tell them that if you are here illegally and there is no way out, it is better that you leave voluntarily rather than be deported. The moment they deport you, you will most likely not get a visa for the next 10 years or more. “

Romualdez said there were “more deportations during the time of President Barack Obama rather than during this time.” Obama had served 2 terms or 8 years compared to 4 years for Trump.