(Left to right) U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, the Philippines Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo, and the Philippines Officer in Charge of the Department of National Defense Carlito Galvez. | Photo credit Wikimedia Commons and the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs website
WASHINGTON, DC – Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III will welcome Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo and Officer in Charge of the Department of National Defense Carlito Galvez to Washington, D.C. for a U.S.-Philippines 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue on April 11, 2022, the U.S. State Department has announced.
At the 2+2 Ministerial, Blinken and Austin will reaffirm the United States’ ironclad commitment to the U.S. alliance with the Philippines, which has contributed to peace, stability, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region for more than 70 years.
The U.S. Department of State said the Ministerial would enable the United States and the Philippines to deepen their bilateral security and economic partnership and strengthen their close collaboration on advancing a free, open, connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient Indo-Pacific region.
The leaders will also mark the 75th anniversary of the Fulbright program in the Philippines and celebrate their deep people-to-people ties.
According to Wikipedia, the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue is a diplomatic summit held every year since 2018. The dialogue was created to replace the Strategic and Commercial Dialogue, which started under the Obama administration.
–With Ricky Rillera/PDM
