President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said he expects the Philippines and the United States to further deepen their long-standing partnership as he welcomed US Ambassador-designate Lee Lipton to Malacañang.
Lipton presented his credentials to Marcos as the new United States envoy to the Philippines.
In receiving the envoy’s credentials, Marcos said he was greatly honored to welcome the new American ambassador, citing the enduring ties between Manila and Washington.
“As I am sure you are aware, the closeness between our two countries has endured over a hundred years, and that is something that we can continue to work on to bring us even closer and make our ties even deeper as we move forward into the next decade,” the President told the American envoy.
“Our work together will be to promote the relationship to bring us even further. Once again, welcome to the Philippines.”
Lipton, for his part, said he would work to deepen the Philippine-US partnership, particularly in security, economic, and commercial ties, as well as the “enduring friendship between our people.”
Lipton was nominated as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Philippines on February 9, 2026, and was confirmed by the US Senate on May 18, 2026.
The Philippines and the US formally established diplomatic relations on July 4, 1946, marking 80 years of formal diplomatic relations this year.
As of 2025, the US is the Philippines’ third-largest trading partner, top export market, and fifth-largest import supplier.
There are over four million Filipinos and Americans of Filipino descent in the US and an estimated 750,000 Americans in the Philippines.
The US is also a major source of foreign direct investments and tourists visiting the Philippines. In 2025, net FDI from the US reached US$183.99 million.
In tourism, the US ranked second in 2025 for tourist arrivals by nationality, with 1.32 million foreign arrivals recorded.
The US remains the Philippines’ oldest and only treaty ally. Bilateral defense and security engagement continues to be a key pillar of PH-US relations and is carried out within the framework of the Mutual Defense Treaty, the Visiting Forces Agreement, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, and other bilateral agreements.