RP should strengthen foreign ties to ensure economic stability, national security - GIBO

The next administration should focus not only on internal concerns but also on strengthening the Philippines’ ties with other countries to guarantee national security, spur economic growth and protect the welfare of overseas Filipino workers worldwide, Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential candidate Gibo Teodoro said yesterday.

At the same time, Gibo said Filipinos should speak with one voice before the global community, especially when it comes to fulfilling its international commitments, to protect its reputation overseas and build investor confidence in the domestic economy.

“Filipinos should speak with one voice,” he said in a recent media forum. “There must be no crack. Our reputation as a country that is ready, willing and able to stand up to its commitments made fairly, freely, must be proven because there is a sad question mark on that in the world scene. And that is also one factor why investments, perhaps, have not come.”.

Gibo said Philippine foreign relations was one topic “sorely missed” in the discussions during forums and debates among presidential candidates in this year’s elections, even though it is a key pillar in developing our economy and even in improving the quality of our human capital.

“One of the canons of Philippine diplomacy, Philippine foreign policy, is that we rely on our good and principled relations with other countries for our national security, national economic security, and thirdly, the welfare of Filipinos abroad,” Gibo said.

He said that to develop Filipino skills and brainpower, the country should learn to interact globally and open itself “not merely to investments but to influences worldwide.”

Gibo said that if elected President, he would continue strengthening the Philippines’ ties with its traditional allies such as the United States, Australia and Japan, while developing bilateral and trade relations with the Middle East, the European Community and South America.

The Philippines must also continue to build its partnerships with China, which is a major trade partner and potentially the largest market for Philippine exports, Gibo said.




Moreover, China is also a key element in maintaining economic growth and preserving peace and stability in East Asia, he added.

China, he said, also presents a large market for the country’s tourism sector and is a potential partner in investments on power and energy,

In the first six months of a Teodoro presidency, Gibo said that due to pressing domestic concerns, he would prefer to stay in the country rather than travel overseas, save for attending the upcoming Asean Summit in Vietnam in October and the APEC Summit in in Japan in November. -30-