Name: Adrian D.

Carandang

Crse&Sec: AB Political Science PSC31

Subject: Political Economy PSCE314

Professor/Instructor: Sir Jummel Estrañero

University: De Lasalle University Dasmariñas

Assessment Paper

The Philippines and United States has maintained a close but very complex relationship for a very
long time. Currently, the two countries have been enjoying their alliance and partnership based on
their history, economy, cultures, and democratic values. As of the moment, the U.S. is committed
to defend the country and strengthen their economic and investment relationship. On the other
hand, China and the Philippines relationship through the years has been friendly but filled with
issues. During the past few years, the two countries has cooled off from their relations due to issues
that arose.

From what we are seeing now, the Philippines and United states are having a better relationship
from the last administration. The U.S. Vice President, Kamala Harris, visited and met Philippine
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to reaffirm the bilateral alliance and said to cooperate or help on
issues regarding cleaner energy, climate crisis, etc.

Moving to the relationship of China and Philippines, during Aquino’s admin, the Philippine filed
a case against China for their actions which are unlawful in the West Philippine Sea. During his
time in office, he only visited China once. The last administration on the other hand visited the
country five times. With Duterte’s move to be closer to China, he then is moving away from the
U.S. The longtime dispute for South China Sea has still not been settled until now.

With all the said visits of the Philippines to China and U.S. vice versa, I think that the Philippines
is maintaining its political economy by being friends with the powerful nations. We can see now
that the Philippines is not leaning to one of the aforementioned nations but rather building a
different relationship with them. This move from the Philippines is smart considering that China
and U.S. are two of the most politically powerful and economically stable. This is something that
the Philippines should adapt.
REFERENCES:

Robinson, L., et.al. (2016). U.S. Special Operations Forces in the Philippines, 2001–2014.
Retrieved from:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/j.ctt1cd0md9.9#metadata_info_tab_contents

Foreign Service Institute Philippines. (n.d.), Philippine-China Relations: Beyond the Territorial
Dispute. Retrieved from: https://fsi.gov.ph/philippines-china-relations-beyond-the-
territoral-disputes/

White House. (2022). FACT SHEET: FACT SHEET: Vice President Harris Launches New
Initiatives to Strengthen U.S.-Philippines Alliance. Retrieved from:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/11/20/fact-sheet-
vice-president-harris-launches-new-initiatives-to-strengthen-u-s-philippines-alliance/

BBC News. (2016). Duterte in China: Xi lauds ‘milestone’ Duterte visit. Retrieved from:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37700409