MANILA, Philippines, March 28 (NNN-XINHUA) – The ties that bind China and the Philippines are “very important,” Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines and former Philippine president, said.
Arroyo spoke highly of Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, for continuing “very friendly” relations between the two countries.
Arroyo said, relationship between Beijing and Manila “is very important for the Philippines for several reasons.”
“One is that China is our neighbour. We should be friends with our neighbours. Second is that, China is increasingly involved, not only in bilateral dealings, but also in ASEAN, of which the Philippines is a member,” she said, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“Third is, China is the most dynamic and fast-growing economy in the world today,” she added.
Moreover, she said, the Philippines has a very vibrant Filipino-Chinese community. “It’s very natural to be friends with China (and) natural to have business dealings with China,” she said.
She said the Duterte government’s ambitious infrastructure development projects under the “Build, Build, Build” programme will benefit from the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The “Build, Build, Build” programme, which was rolled out by the Duterte administration in 2017, intends to spend eight to nine trillion pesos (roughly 160 to 180 billion U.S. dollars) in the medium term, on building roads, bridges, airports, seaports and railways in the Philippines.
Arroyo said, the Philippines is already beginning to feel the impact of China’s ambitious effort to improve regional cooperation and connectivity on a transcontinental scale.
Because of the warm relations that both countries enjoy now, she said, the Philippines is enjoying more trade and investment activities with China.
“We have more investments from China coming in, and then more people-to-people exchanges are happening. The tourism sector (benefits from the warm relations) … That’s also the influence of China being felt there,” she said.
“We’re even beginning to look at some opportunities for labour and employment in the services (sector). So, yes, the influence is being felt (in the Philippines),” she said.– NNN-XINHUA
