Obama to PH, Asia: ‘When our friends are in trouble, we help’

From the Manila Times (Dec 3): Obama to PH, Asia: ‘When our friends are in trouble, we help’

President Barrack Obama said on Tuesday that the United States would continue its aid to the Philippines from the destruction brought about by Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) a month after the incident.

Obama said through a video message at the LEAD Asean Youth Summit in Philippines that the US government would continue its help to long term for the victims of the typhoon, as well as forging good diplomatic relations in the Southeast Asia.

“Because when our friend are in trouble, we help…My message to the Philippines, and to our allies and partners across the Pacific, is that we stand with you. As you move forward, you will always have a friend and partner in the United States,” Obama said through a video message.

Obama commended the Philippine government in accommodating more or less than 150 youth delegates-scholars of the US government from all over Southeast Asia despite the hardship the country experienced from the supertyphoon.

The president also emphasized the importance and opportunities in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

“Prosperity and peace in the Asia Pacific means more opportunity for us all, including the United States. And I want to make sure we’re building that future together.”

The United States president, who spent his childhood mostly in Indonesia, said that he will also visit Asia by April next year to further strengthen diplomatic ties in the region, being labeled as the future economic power of the world.

Though not disclosing the countries he would visit, it is earlier said that the planned visit next year was because of the cancellation of his planned trip to the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia last October because of concerns over US government shutdown.

http://manilatimes.net/obama-to-ph-asia-when-our-friends-are-in-trouble-we-help/57591/