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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 9) – The victory of US President-elect Joe Biden will open opportunities for the Philippines to engage in stronger trade deals and boost responses to threats from climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, an economist-lawmaker said Monday.
“Overall, a very positive position for the Philippines, especially [in] the pandemic, “said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Joey Salceda de Albay at Laging Handa’s virtual briefing.
Regarding the response to COVID-19, Salceda sees a “global collaboration” initiated by the US with other countries that could boost equitable access to vaccine distribution.
Current US President Donald Trump previously moved to withdraw from the World Health Organization and stop funding to the organization after what he said was its inability to carry out much-needed reforms during the pandemic.
“A global cooperation framework is needed to ensure that poor countries like the Philippines have access to the vaccine,” Salceda said.
Biden, a Democrat, could also change “America First” foreign policy under the Trump administration, opening up trade opportunities for poor countries like the Philippines.
“I am sure that [Biden] it would be more globalist than ‘America First’. So I would advocate for friends, allies, to restore much of this relationship that has been fractured over the past four years because the former president took a very ‘solo’ approach. “
In 2017, Trump also withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, a multinational trade agreement with 11 other countries that border the Pacific Ocean. Salceda said it might now be possible for the Philippines to join the TPP under the Biden administration.
“I think that’s when we can reopen because … I think the TPP is a more complete and viable commercial mechanism,” Salceda said in a separate interview with CNN Philippines’ New Day.
What does the Philippines hold in terms of weather? For the legislator, the Philippines, a country prone to tropical cyclones, can also benefit from the Paris Agreement, as it includes commitments from member countries to reduce their emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
“He (Biden) is going back to the Paris agreement, which is very good because the Philippines needs it.”
Salceda added: “For the Philippines, we account for less than a fraction of all global emissions, but the three strongest typhoons in history went to the Philippines: Typhoon Goni, Typhoon Meranti and Haiyan, they all went to the Philippines, and we hardly contribute. to carbon emission “.
Haiyan or Super Typhoon Yolanda hit the country in 2013 as one of the most powerful tropical cyclones leaving 6,300 dead and more than 1,000 missing, while Meranti or Typhoon Ferdie hit the country in 2016, causing millions of pesos in property damage.
Goni, also known locally as Super Typhoon Rolly, left the country last Tuesday, leaving 22 dead and at least P14 billion in damage to infrastructure and agriculture.
In a statement, President Rodrigo Duterte promised on Sunday to further boost the country’s ties with the United States under a new administration based on “mutual respect, mutual benefit, and a shared commitment to democracy, freedom, and the rule of law. “.
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