MANILA: Philip Goldberg, the outgoing US envoy to the Philippines, has said he cannot understand Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s push for an “economic separation” from the United States.
The economies of the Philippines and the US, after all, remain “very much linked,” Rappler quoted Goldberg as saying.
He cited remittances from US-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as an example. “Forty-three percent of the remittances from abroad from OFWs go through the United States, or originate in the United States,” Goldberg reportedly said.
“There are 3 and a half million Filipino-Americans. I’m sure there are many people in the studio with American relatives, friends, who have studied in the US,” he added
“The United States is the largest private foreign investor in the Philippines. The largest private employer is an American company. The largest exporter is an American company. The markets in the United States are very much tied to the markets here,” Goldberg said.
Data from the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), in fact, reportedly show that the US is the Philippines’ third largest trading partner, next to Japan and China. Trade between Manila and Washington amounts to $16.491 billion favoring the Philippines, according to a fact sheet provided by the DFA in September.
At the same time, the US continues to host 5,997,330 Filipinos, the report pointed out.
The Philippine President’s recent statements have fueled fears for the plight of the country’s economy, reported Rappler.
Duterte on Thursday said in China, “I announce my separation from the United States, both in military and economics.”
