U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. REUTERS FILE PHOTO
US Vice President Kamala Harris is set to visit the Philippines next month to bolster cooperation and tackle areas of interest between the two treaty allies. According to a White House statement on Saturday, Harris will travel to Manila where she is scheduled to meet with top government officials and civil society leaders to “reaffirm and strengthen the US-Philippine alliance and underscore the breadth of our cooperation as friends, partners and allies.” Her visit to Manila will come after her trip to Bangkok on Nov. 18 to Nov. 19 for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Meeting where the US leader is expected to underscore commitment of the US to the Indo-Pacific region which the Philippines is part of. Harris will be accompanied by her husband, US second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, who led the US delegation at the inauguration of President Marcos in June. Harris will be the highest US official to visit the country since Mr. Marcos took office. In August, State Secretary Antony Blinken visited the Philippines. —Kathleen de Villa