The alliance between the Philippines and the United States is "rock solid" and is an "absolute priority" of the American government.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the statement during his meeting with President Marcos at the Malacañan Palace on Tuesday, March 19, as part of his two-day visit in Manila.

"Yes we are working on a number of challenges around the world and have even discussed them with you, but I think it's so important to us is even as we're dealing with those other challenges, our focus, our engagement, our commitment, to Indo pacific, at large and to the relationship, alliance between United States and the Philippines in particular, is more than rock solid," Blinken told Marcos.

"It’s the absolute priority of President Biden, and that's why he asked me to be here," he added.

The American official also stated that the upcoming visit of Marcos to Washington next month promises "a new horizon of cooperation" as they are set to hold a trilateral meeting with Japan.

"We have your upcoming visit to Washington, to see President Biden and also to have a trilateral meeting with President Prime Minister Kishida, I think a new horizon of cooperation is also incredibly promising," he said.

He stressed that their cooperation is also "building on the very strong foundation of our countries" through identical priorities such as economic development, efforts on climate change mitigation, food security, and upholding international law.

Marcos, for his part, thanked Blinken for visiting the country amid the latter's busy schedules and issues that he was dealing with.

"I hope that all these efforts we are making are making some success because it is of great importance to [us too, as you well know, we have spoken about this before.] These things are somehow toned down, I can't see how you are going to do that. Some easing tension, seen in the near future," Marcos said.

Meanwhile, the White House earlier announced that Marcos,US President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio will hold their first trilateral leaders’ summit in Washington in April.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA),the trilateral summit aims to advance an agenda with the US and Japan with whom the Philippines share important strategic defense, security, and economic interests.

The DFA said the summit will be a "milestone opportunity to reaffirm the robust alliance between the Philippines and the United States, and the Strategic Partnership which it shares with Japan."

They are expected to discuss maritime cooperation to infrastructure development, economic resiliency, trade and investments, clean energy and the climate, as well as cyber security and the digital economy, among other matters.