House Majority Leader and Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez led the House of Representatives in welcoming the members of a United States Congressional Delegation as they called for stronger relations and cooperation between the two countries.
Romualdez, chairman of the House Committee on Rules, led the US-Philippines Congressional Delegations' Meet and Greet at Conrad Manila Hotel last Tuesday where Speaker Lord Allan Velasco requested him to represent the House of Representatives.
“In working our way out of this pandemic, we are hopeful that both our countries will find new opportunities for broader engagement in the economic sphere that would fuel our recovery efforts. The Philippines, for one, would like to deepen cooperation with the United States in the areas of supply chain, health and health security, environment and climate change, energy security, and interconnectivity," Romualdez said.
“I trust that this interaction of our delegation with yours would help forge stronger relations between our countries, and would eventually lead to peace and prosperity in the entire Asia-Pacific region," he added.
US Senators John Cornyn who served as the Senate Majority Whip from 2013 to 2019, Mike Crapo, Mike Lee, and Tommy Tuberville, and Congressmen Tony Gonzales and Jake Ellzey met Romualdez, HouseCommittee on Foreign Affairs Chairperson and Zamboanga Sibugay Rep. Ann Hofer, and Deputy Minority Leader and Marikina City Rep. Stella Luz Ouimbo.
Romualdez also thanked the delegation for giving them the opportunity to “fortify engagements with the US Congress on matters beneficial to the Philippines and the United States.”
He said: “Your visit today is a fitting highlight of this year’s 75th anniversary celebration of formal diplomatic relations between our two countries, and the 70th year since the signing of our Mutual Defense Treaty."
“As we both affirm the strengthening of Philippine-US partnership, we would like to seize this occasion also to extend our gratitude for the continued US defense and security assistance to our country as well as your valuable assistance in our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.
Since 2015, the US has provided the Philippines more than $1 billion in military equipment where the Visiting Forces Agreement was responsible for more than 300 bilateral military engagements with the Armed Forces of the Philippines each year, including expert exchanges and major training exercises.
The lawmaker also highlighted that the US has facilitated the donation of nearly 28 million doses of COVD-19 vaccine to the Philippines through the US government's partnership with COVAX.
In addition to vaccine donations, the US has provided more than $39 million in COVID-19 assistance in new ventilators, ICU beds, isolation tents, and Personal Protective Equipment.