MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday, April 24, that the Philippines is eyeing “green bonds” from the United States, ahead of a scheduled bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House.

Marcos is set to visit Washington, DC, on May 1 to meet with Biden for their second bilateral meeting since the Philippine president took office.

“We’ll see if…because so many things have changed, climate change has become a huge issue and we want to see what else we can do, what strategies we can take. The US has something called a green bond. That means they can offer funds to help us. For instance, it can be used for the no-build zones, in moving away structures from the sea so they’re less vulnerable to strong storms,” Marcos said in Filipino during an interview on state-run Radyo Pilipinas’ Erwin Tulfo On Air with Nina Corpuz.

According to the US energy department, green bonds are financial instruments that allow issuers to borrow large sums of money “for use in sustainability-focused projects.” Green bonds are part of the Biden administration’s initiatives to tackle climate change.

At the United Nations Climate Conference, the Biden administration announced plans to launch “Climate Finance +,” a program to “accelerate the use of innovative finance mechanisms that aim to leverage billions in new public and private investment in low- and lower-middle income countries.”

“This Climate Finance + effort will support potential green bonds and other climate-related financing through MCC technical assistance in Indonesia, Mozambique, and Zambia and USAID support for the development of green bonds in at least five additional countries via public-private partnerships,” said the White House in a November 2022 release.

The Philippines is among the countries worst-impacted by changes in the climate. Speaking before politicians and business leaders in Bangkok in November 2022, Marcos said climate change was the “most pressing existential challenge of our time.”

South China Sea, Taiwan

Marcos said he would also be bringing up the Mutual Defense Treaty and Visiting Forces Agreement with Biden during the meeting.

“It has to evolve because the situation in the South China Sea is also evolving. There’s also Taiwan, North Korea, all these things indicate that the situation here is heating up,” the President said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Marcos said he wants to make clear the partnership between the two countries: “What we can do to lessen the rhetoric. Because nowadays the topics are sensitive, and harsh words are being uttered, so we want to address that,” he added.

Ties between Washington and Manila have seemingly strengthened under Marcos – or at least compared to the time of his immediate predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte. Despite promising continuity of the Duterte administration’s policy, Marcos has been much warmer towards the US even as he’s made efforts to keep good ties with China.

Under Marcos, Americans were granted access to four more Philippine bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) – a move China has reacted strongly against, accusing the US of worsening tensions in the region.

Chinese Ambassador to Manila Huang Xillian advised the Philippines to reject Taiwan independence if it cared about the Filipino workers in the independently-governed country, which China claims as its own. Marcos has downplayed Huang’s statements and, over the weekend, met with Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Qin Gang to clarify matters.

Marcos is flying to the US days after Balikatan, the annual joint exercises between Filipino and American troops, wraps up. The 2023 edition is the first under his administration and, according to the US embassy, is the biggest thus far.

Aside from the bilateral meeting with Biden, Marcos and the Philippine delegation are expected to meet with their counterparts in a bigger meeting.

Malacañang earlier announced that the meetings would cover a wide range of issues, including tourism, healthcare, cultural exchanges, among other things. – Rappler.com