House Speaker Martin Romualdez delivers his speech at Harvard University. (Speaker’s office)

House Speaker Martin Romualdez has described the long-standing relations between the Philippines and the United States (US) as "an unfinished project". However, he didn't mean this in a negative way.

Speaking at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government Thursday morning, April 20 (Philippine time) in Boston, Massachusetts, Romualdez mentioned the usual keywords that have been used when tackling the alliance between the two nations.

“The Philippine-US relations are strong. The military alliance is iron-clad. Our economic relations are robust. And the friendship between our two peoples is solid,” the Leyte 1st district congressman said.

He then moved to one of his major points in his speech as members of the faculty as well as students listened.

“Remember, however, that PH-US relations continue to be an unfinished project. Our task is to build upon the strong foundations of the past in order to achieve a common future of shared objectives and mutual prosperity," he said

"I hope that all of you here today realize that we can all be important partners in this regard,” Romualdez said.

“May we all continue to make our small contributions to strengthen the friendship between our two peoples. May our work enhance the relations between the Philippines and the United States. May we draw the bilateral ties of our two countries even much closer,” he said, hammering home his point.

The House leader delivered the speech upon the invitation of the university’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. It was followed by a question and answer portion with the Harvard community.

Aside from the inspirational talk, Romualdez also made sure to "sell" the Philippines while he was there.

He said the time for US businesses to invest in the Philippines “is now” because of the country’s record economic growth.

“The Philippine Congress, through its mandate, lays out the legal framework wherein the Philippines and the United States can prove time and again that the partnership continues to evolve and be more responsive to promote the interests of their respective peoples,” he told his Harvard audience.