Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. personally thanked United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power for the assistance of the US government and its private sector to the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Locsin was in Washington D.C. this week to meet with Power “to explore opportunities to further expand the partnership between the Philippines and USAID.”

“I recognize USAID’s valuable work in helping the Philippines fight this pandemic and I cannot overemphasize the need for a stable and regular supply of vaccines, especially from the U.S.,” he said.

The world’s premier international development agency was instrumental in helping the Philippines procure personal protective equipment (PPE) and other COVID-19 essentials.

A statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said USAID has helped empower Filipino health workers “through online training, expanding community access to water, sanitation and hygiene information, services and commodities, and strengthening supply chain management and the delivery of cash relief through digital solutions.”

The two officials also discussed the ongoing vaccination programs in their respective countries with Locsin emphasizing “the need for a stable and regular supply of vaccines especially from the United States.”

The United States is home to Pfizer’s and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines, which both have the highest efficacy rate among all available COVID-19 vaccines in the world.

On Friday, September 10 (Thursday in Washington, DC), National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Locsin and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to announce that the United States, through the USAID, will provide an additional $11.3 million COVID-19 assistance to the Philippines.

READ: US to provide $11.3 million new COVID-19 assistance to PH

This brings the total amount of Washington’s aid to the country to $37 million aside from the six million Janssen and Moderna vaccines earlier donated by the United States through COVAX, the global vaccine-sharing facility.

The Philippines and USAID are celebrating 60 years of partnership this year, as well as the 75th anniversary of Philippines-United States diplomatic relations and the 70th anniversary of the Mutual Defense Treaty.

Sullivan said Washington is looking forward “to further strengthen the US-Philippines Alliance.”

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Earlier, President Duterte affirmed the continuation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States as a result of the six million vaccines donated to the country.

Sullivan also commended the country for hosting Afghan refugees as the three officials discussed their work on counterterrorism and human rights.

Seeing as the Philippines is the United States’ oldest ally in the Indo-Pacific region, the high-ranking security advisor also discussed President Joseph Biden’s vision “for a free and open Indo-Pacific and our efforts to revitalize our alliances.”

He stressed Washington’s “enduring commitment to Southeast Asia” and reiterated their support for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which the Philippines is a member of. The officials also talked about the competing territorial claims in the region, as well as the coup in Myanmar.