AmCham Philippines’ April Virtual General Membership Meeting
By Mylene I. Samonte
Updates on Presidents Biden and Duterte; vaccine support; China-Philippines Scarborough Shoal issue; racism and hate crimes; and investment and renewable energy — these were the interesting key topics discussed by H.E. Jose Manuel G. Romualdez, Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the United States of America, during his talk at the April Virtual General Membership Meeting of American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) of the Philippines.
Last 21st of April 2021, I had the opportunity to attend this webinar. Board members present were acknowledged and the attendees were welcomed by AmCham Philippines Executive Director Ebb Hinchliffe. Afterwards, new members were inducted and the following were warmly welcomed — Phoenix Virtual Solutions, Prime Metro BMD Corporation, and BioConnexUS.
The scheduled guest speaker was originally Hon. Vince Dizon, president and CEO of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), and chief implementer of the government’s COVID-19 response team. He was supposed to grace the occasion and discuss BBB projects and COVID-19 response initiatives of the government. But for some valid reason, he wasn’t able to show up. Nonetheless, topics presented by Amb. Romualdez were very informative as noted below:
- President Biden and President Duterte are hoping to have a meeting in the next ASEAN Summit.
- On vaccine support — talks with Pfizer and Moderna have been in the works since June 2020. There’s a commitment to get all available vaccines through the COVAX initiative and the Philippines is assured of 20 million doses of Moderna by June 2021.
- He mentioned that he is not in the position to share what is being discussed regarding the China-Philippines Scarborough Shoal issue, but they are watching it carefully. Mutual defense treaties are being taken seriously since the U.S. knows the importance of keeping the Philippines’ sovereignty as a strategic point in the Pacific Ocean.
- On the hot topic of racism and hate crimes, where Asian-Americans have been victims in recent months, he shared that President Biden acted fast, pushing for a strong resolution in the U.S. Congress to fight hate crimes. The Fil-Am Community is united with the rest of the Asian community to fight this.
- There are great opportunities in renewable energy and green technology. Pharmaceutical companies are gearing to set up manufacturing in the Philippines as it is a strategic location for distribution in Asia. The Free Trade Agreement to boost commerce between the U.S. and the Philippines is attracting U.S. companies to move their Asia manufacturing operations to the country.
With that much said, congratulations to AmCham Philippines for hosting another successful virtual GMM. Until next time!
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About the author:
Mylene Samonte is currently the Senior Supervising Implementation Consultant of John Clements Consultants Leadership Institute (JCLI). Mylene is a graduate of Bachelor of Arts in Management major in Human Resources Management, and has a post-graduate diploma in Human Resources Management from De La Salle — College of Saint Benilde.
