The Philippines and the United States celebrate today their Friendship Day, an erstwhile official holiday titled Independence Day.
It commemorates the Treaty of Manila, signed in 1946 liberating the Philippines from American rule—that time the Philippine tricolors was pulled up as the Stars and Stripes was lowered at the bayside Quirino Grandstand.
It marked the end of more than 48 years of American rule lasting from 1898 to 1946.
In 1955, then President Ramon Magsaysay established the observance of Philippine American Day.
In 1984, under President Ferdinand Marcos, July 4 was designated as a non-working holiday to celebrate Filipino-American Friendship Day – which shows the first official celebration of Filipino-American Friendship Day under the name it is known began that year.
The celebration of Filipino-American Friendship Day follows more than 100 years of shared history between the two nations, which fought alongside each other during the second world war in the 1940s.
Many say the beginning of a good relationship between the two countries could be said to have started in 1946 when the Philippines regained complete independence from the United States.
To show appreciation for the assistance offered to them when Japan attacked, the Philippine government designated July 4 as Independence Day and also Filipino-American Friendship Day.
It was also on July 4, 1946, following Japan’s defeat in World War ll, that the United States restored independence to the Philippines, a US possession since 1898.
Today, the 4th of July is observed in the Philippines as a day that pays tribute to the long partnership between the two countries, and particularly at a time of rising tensions in the South China Sea, home to hundreds of islands, atolls and coral reefs, plus abundant reserves of oil and natural gas, fisheries and some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
For decades, neighboring countries have had struggles over territory in the area, but recently tensions have been bubbling over as China has been accused of interfering in the rights of coastal states’ Exclusive Economic Zones, and claiming land through dredging and building up atolls and islands from where, according to analysts, it can launch military exercises.
The United States immediately reassured its allies it has been stepping up military maneuvers in the South China Sea, generating concerns the area is becoming a geopolitical flash point.
US Ambassasdor to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson herself said Washington is marking Philippine-American Friendship Day “doubly special – a time to celebrate all that the Philippines and the United States have accomplished together as steadfast friends, partners in prosperity, and ironclad allies.”
This year’s highlight in the bilateral ties was the successful visit to Washington, D.C. by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last May.
During President Marcos’s Oval Office meeting with President Biden, the two discussed the full spectrum of Manila-Washington ties as friends, partners, and allies.
Carlson said President Biden reaffirmed Washington’s “ironclad commitment to the Alliance and announced a first-of-its-kind Presidential Trade and Investment Mission to the Philippines.”
DFA Office of American Affairs Assistant Secretary Jose Victor Chan-Gonzaga earlier on described Philippine-US ties as in a very good place as the US Embassy in Manila marked the 247th US Independence Day a few days ahead of the Fourth of July celebration.
And the two countries celebrate.
