MANILA, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The Philippines will maintain
"close and friendly" relations with the United States under
President-elect Joe Biden, a top Philippine official said on
Wednesday, amid a period of strain in their decades-old
alliance.
"We congratulate again the incoming president and we look
forward to having close and friendly relations with the Biden
administration," presidential spokesman Harry Roque told CNN
Philippines ahead of Biden's inauguration.
Ties have been tested since Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte took office in 2016 and embarked on months of
expletive-laden tirades against the United States and threatened
repeatedly to scrap their bilateral military agreements.
Duterte has sought warmer ties with China and Russia, and
took particular aim at former counterpart Barack Obama, to whom
Biden was vice president. He once said he would not visit the
United States, calling it a "lousy" country.
Though Duterte has spoken positively about U.S. President
Donald Trump, he has remained critical of American foreign
policy.
Philippine political analysts expect the Biden
administration to be more vocal than its predecessor about human
rights issues in the Philippines, including Duterte's signature
war on drugs, during which thousands of people have been killed.