VISITING Philippine Ambassador to the United States Albert del Rosario says the Philippine-U.S. relations “stand at a highest point today.”
There are no more issues that will threaten Philippine-American relations, he said.
“They are now much stronger,” del Rosario told members of the Filipino community during a reception-dinner hosted for him and his wife, Gretchen de Venecia-del Rosario at Aqua Resort Club.
More than 11 years ago, the Philippines “virtually disappeared from the U.S. radar screens” as a result of the Philippine Senate’s rejection of the treaty extending the “lease” of America’s two largest military bases outside the U.S.
Del Rosario said the non-renewal of the U.S. bases treaty in 1991 resulted in a “fairly stale” relationship between Washington and Manila.
Del Rosario, however, said the United States did not sever its relations with its former colony.
The ties between the two nations have been forged by World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War, del Rosario said.
Now, the Philippines is again an ally of the United States, this time in its war against global terrorism, del Rosario said.
The Philippines and the United States also share the values of democracy, free enterprise and social justice, he added.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is the first Asian president to declare his “unqualified support” for the war against terrorism, del Rosario said.
