House of Representatives Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez has called for stronger relations and cooperation between the Philippines and the United States.

"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," said Romualdez said during the US-Philippines Congressional Delegation Meet and Greet held recently at Conrad Manila.

"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."

Romualdez, president of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD), graced the event along with US Senators John Cornyn, Mike Crapo, Mike Lee, and Tommy Tuberville; US Congressmen Tony Gonzales, and Jake Ellzey; House Committee on Foreign Affairs chairperson and Zamboanga Sibugay Rep. Ann K. Hofer, and Deputy Minority Leader and Marikina City Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo.

"I thank the delegation for giving us the opportunity to fortify engagements with the US Congress on matters beneficial to the Philippines and the United States. Your visit today is a fitting highlight on 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," the Leyte solon said.

“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.”

The Philippines and US are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Mutual Defense Treaty signed by both countries.

The US has provided the country more than $1 billion in military equipment since 2015 where the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) was responsible for more than 300 bilateral military engagements with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) annually, including major training exercises and expert exchanges.

Last October 13, the Leyte 1st District congressman welcomed the US donation of millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses to the country during the launch of the US-Philippines Congressional Friendship Caucus.

The House Majority Leader pointed out that the US facilitated the donation of nearly 28 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the country through the US government's partnership with COVAX.

In addition to vaccine donations, the US has also provided more than $39 million in COVID-19 medical assistance to the Filipino people. This includes donations of new ventilators, ICU beds, isolation tents, and personal protective equipment (PPE). (Melvin Sarangay)