Philippine-American Relations Under the "New Society"

Abstract

Q N SUNDAY, December 7, 1975, thirty-four years after bombing of Pearl Harbor, American television viewers were treated to a glimpse of President Ford and Secretary of State Kissinger relaxing aboard Philippine presidential yacht during an outing to Corregidor Island where Presidents Ford and Marcos commemorated valor and sacrifices of Philippine and American forces in World War I.1 Although wreath-laying at Fil-American war memorial was a solemn ceremony, most of shots of two presidential parties tended to emphasize gaiety of occasion. The Corregidor cruise, in words of Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Carlos P. Romulo, climaxed the greatest reception given any American visitor to Philippine islands,2 exceeding even tremendous welcome extended to Douglas MacArthur during his emotional farewell visit in i96i. President Marcos called United States Philippines' strongest ally and reaffirmed his belief that Manila and Washington would remain closely linked for a long time to come, 3 and saw to it that President and Mrs. Ford were greeted by over a million cheering Filipinos during hour it took their motorcade to traverse seven and a half miles between airport and Malacanfang Palace. Yet behind all this hospitality serious military and political problems affecting Philippine-American relations lurked in background. Despite fact that every President of Philippines has proclaimed cordial relations with United States as cornerstone of Republic's foreign policy and that Philippine Congress, until its dissolution in 1972, responded favorably on all key legislative measures affecting Philippine-American relations (see Table i), a