No backlash on ties if PH declines US request on Afghans – envoy

by Charie abarCa Inquirer.net

MANILA — Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez is seeing no consequence on the country’s relations with America if the Philippines declines its ally’s request for the accommodation of 50,000 Afghans.

need for 25 years to realize the big-ticket project. During a press briefing in Makati City, the Manila International Airport Consortium (MIAC) shared its strategy—to be implemented in phases—to expand the capacity of the congested airport, ultimately increasing it to 70 million passengers annually from the current 31 million. u

In an interview on Wednesday, June 21, Romualdez was asked if Manila-Washington ties will be affected if the Philippines do not grant such a request of the U.S. “Not at all,” he replied over ANC. “There are many more things that we need to make with the US. There is mutual respect, in my view, between the U.S. and the Philippines, especially now [that] they know that the Philippines is a sovereign nation and that we have our own laws, we have things that we want.”

He, however, pointed out that sheltering the distressed Afghans is