📷US President-elect Donald Trump
US President-elect Donald Trump asked President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. about the well-being of his mother, former First Lady Imelda Marcos in a recent phone call.
On the sidelines of relief distribution in typhoon-hit Catanduanes, Marcos said Trump fondly recalled his mother during their conversation.
“Ang kaibigan niya (Trump) talaga mother ko. Kilalang-kilala niya ‘yung mother ko. Kinukumusta niya, ‘How is Imelda?’ Sabi ko, binabati ka nga,” Marcos told the reporters.
The discussion went beyond personal connections as the two leaders touched on strengthening the alliance between the United States and the Philippines.
Marcos emphasized the importance of the longstanding relationship between the two nations, describing it as “as deep as can possibly be because it has been for a very long time.”
Marcos also reminded Trump of the significant Filipino-American voter support he received during the U.S. elections.
The President expressed optimism about meeting Trump in person, saying, “Plano kong makipagkita sa kanya as soon as I can. Sabi niya siguro baka nasa White House na siya bago ako makapunta.”
The phone call, which Marcos described as “very friendly” and “productive,” reaffirmed the strong ties between the two nations.
When asked about issues concerning undocumented Filipino immigrants in the U.S., Marcos clarified that the topic was not part of their conversation.
We didn’t talk about that. It was just a congratulatory call,” he said, adding that the Philippine ambassador to the U.S. is already addressing related concerns.
Before his election victory, Donald Trump pledged to carry out a mass deportation of undocumented or illegal immigrants.
Following his re-election on November 6, Trump announced plans to use the military to enforce this mass deportation.
In response to Trump’s victory, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez urged undocumented Filipino immigrants to return home voluntarily instead of waiting for deportation. “Come home to the Philippines as soon as you can,” he advised.
According to a July 2024 report from the Washington-based Pew Research Center, which cited 2022 data as its most recent figures, four million of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. originated from Mexico.
El Salvador ranked second with 750,000 undocumented immigrants, followed by India with 725,000, and Guatemala with 675,000. The Philippines placed 13th among the top 14 countries of origin, accounting for 130,000 undocumented immigrants in the U.S. (TCSP)
