Press Conference
Following White House Meeting on Tariffs, Tropical Storm Crising, National Security
delivered 23
July 2025, Garden Room, Blair House in Washington, D.C.
[NOT AUTHENTICATED -- CHECK AGAINST
DELIVERY]
PRESIDENT FERDINAND R. MARCOS JR.: Hi, good afternoon.
As I’m sure you all know we just came back from the White House for a meeting
with President Trump.
And in that meeting, we covered very, very many subjects. The first part of our
meeting at the White House was in the Oval Office and most of that was actually
televised. So, I don’t need to take you through that.
But before the press was allowed in, again, he was very inquisitive about who --
the situation in our country -- what are the threats that we have to worry about,
and how are the other countries around ASEAN, Asia Pacific, reacting to what’s
going on in West Philippine Sea.
He asked us many questions about the situation, including the status of the
different militaries around the area. So, we had a very, very -- we covered a
great deal of ground.
Now, I think it’s -- I can already tell everyone, as it’s come out already, that
we managed to bring down the 20 percent tariff rate for the Philippines to 19.
Now, one percent might seem like a very small concession. However, when you put
it into -- in real terms, it is a significant achievement.
There is more to be spoken about with the United States concerning that the
tariff rates and our trade deals. So that, I think, is....
So, we have a 19 percent rate coming from -- for imports coming from the
Philippines into the United States.
And however, comparatively speaking, we are still doing more.... They told us that
it is because of the special relationship between the Philippines and the United
States.
So, that was the -- that’s the gist. I’m sure you have questions about it, and
I’ll open the floor.
But before we get to that, I am here -- I have with me the latest report and
update on
Crising.
We already have 487,964 families affected; 49,617 people are inside 500
evacuation centers; and there are 2,790 families who are staying outside of the
evacuation centers who are obviously being serviced by the DSWD for their needs.
Relief goods have been supplied.
We have, unfortunately, we have to be -- we have to report the casualties. There
are six dead, so far; five injured; and we have eight missing people.
And the rains have not really stopped. The floods have not subsided in Metro
Manila, especially in Metro Manila. Pero kahit sa ibang lugar mukhang ganoon
din [But even in other places it looks the same].
Mayroon pa ring flooding -- 1,875 areas have reported flooding: Region I, II,
III, CAR, NCR, CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, V, VI, VII, IX, X, XI, XII, CARAGA, and
BARMM.
Debris incidents -- fallen debris incidents, we have nine rain-induced
landslides, collapsed structures, et cetera.
So, I can provide you with these statistics later on. One thousand four hundred
-- eighty six thousand -- eight hundred and seventy six people are being served
either inside or outside evacuation centers. I’ve been to the casualties.
The main cause for casualties were fallen trees, drowning, and flood currents.
We still have [unclear]. The damage to infrastructure, the estimate thus far is
at -- ang laki talaga [really big]: 4,007,442,667.75 -- may 75 centavos pa.
But that is the estimate, as of now. As you all know, ano lang ‘yan [what
is that] -- that is
still the immediate [figure]. The incident is not yet over.
So, loss to agriculture is estimated now at PhP134,655,000. MIMAROPA alone is
already 113 million in terms of losses.
So, we have been watching it from the start since we have left. We spent most of
the morning going through this to try and make sure -- mukha naman maganda ang
response ng mga teams natin [It looks like our teams are responding well.]
They have been able to provide the relief goods. They have been able to evacuate
as many people as possible as needed to be evacuated.
And so, we are just hoping for it -- for the floods to subside, the rain to
lessen, and the floods to subside so that we can start again the cleanup
process.
All right, that’s my statement to begin with. I’ll open the floor to questions.
QUESTION: Good afternoon, Mr. President. On tariffs, we also saw the post of President
Trump on Truth Social. So, he also indicated a lower tariff of 19 percent as you
said. Although, he also said that the Philippines is going open market with the
United States and zero tariffs. Can you elaborate more on this?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: He also said that?
QUESTION: The Philippines is going open market with the United States.
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Yes. Well, there were certain markets that they were asked to
be opened that are presently right now are not open.
The one -- the major areas that he said were automobiles. Because we have a
tariff on American automobiles, we will open that market and no longer charge
tariffs on that.
So, there’s several. But also the other side of that is an increased importation
from the United States for soy products, wheat products and pharma, actually,
medicines, para makamura naman ‘yung mga [so that they can be cheaper] -- maging mas mura ‘yung gamot natin
[our medicine will be chepaer].
So, we are coming to those arrangements. There’s still a lot of detail that
needs to be worked out on the different products and the different exports and
imports.
But basically, that’s now our template. That’s what we are following, is at
19
percent tariff rate on Philippine goods that are imported into the United
States.
QUESTION: But Mr. President, isn’t the Philippines getting the shorter end of the stick
here by having
still higher tariffs from 17 percent, it’s still higher at 19 percent, whereas,
we’re giving them zero tariffs for certain sectors?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Well, that’s how negotiations go.
We came here, when we arrived in Washington, tariff rates were 20. So, why it
came up from 17 to 20 is an internal matter with the United States government.
So, we -- but the number that we had to work on was 20. So, we tried very hard to
see what we can do. And we managed the one percent decrease in tariff rates.
QUESTION: Mr. President, a follow-up on the tariffs, first, before I ask about the
ammunition hub. The U.S. ranks as the Philippines’ biggest import market, or
rather export market, and yet it ranks only at sixth when it comes to imports,
with China being our number one source of importation. How do you intend to
address that deficit, considering that the deficit -- ?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Which deficit?
QUESTION: The deficit between --
PRESIDENT MARCOS: With the U.S. or with China?
QUESTION: With the U.S., sir. Let me give you the figures first, but let me just find the
page very, very quickly. Sorry for the delay, sir.
PRESIDENT MARCOS: No, I mean, which deficits are you talking about? How do we
plan to reduce the deficit?
QUESTION: Sir, there is a big trade deficit
between the U.S. and the Philippines. As of 2024 data, we have a 4.9 billion --
PRESIDENT MARCOS: How much?
QUESTION: 4.9 billion deficit.
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Okay, okay, we have the same number.
QUESTION: Yes, sir. It’s up by 21.8 percent from 2023. How do you intend to address
that deficit so that tariffs may hopefully be pulled down further from 19
percent?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Exactly as I said, we open
-- we will -- I suppose it is a lie --
it is a living thing. Maybe we can go back to this if the markets around the
world begin -- are able to adjust.
But the way, what really is, is to offset the trade balance deficit that we
have, and that is by added -- by increasing imports from the United States.
That’s part of the new regime that we will be following in terms of trade with
the United States.
QUESTION: Sir, my original topic that I have listed. The
U.S. ammunitions hub that is
planned in Subic. How is this related -- is this actually even related to your
meeting with the CIA and with the Defense? What are the particulars that were
already in place with regard to that planned ammunitions hub in Subic?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: I don’t think anything was on that subject. We didn’t do any
work on that. That had been decided a long time ago --
not naman a year ago, but almost a year ago. We decided to -- we already had
decided.
And like my -- like I answered when we were in the Oval Office, kasama ito,
tinutulungan tayo ng mga Amerikano sa SRDP natin [along with this, the
Americans are helping us with our SRDP], our
Self-Reliant Defense
Program.
That’s really something that we were going to do anyway. Kahit wala tayong
katulong, gagawin talaga natin ‘yun [Even if we don't have help, we will
definitely do it]. And they have offered to help. So, we will
do that.
QUESTION: Sir, do we have figures as to how many jobs it will actually create once that
hub is already finalized? And how do you intend to face threats or warnings from
China, considering that we expect them not to react positively with this
development in Subic as well as the Luzon Corridor?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Well, before we get to your
question on the jobs, there’s been
many -- much comment and say that these infrastructures, military
infrastructures, and the programs that we are initiating will make us a target
for China.
Are we not already a target for China? So, I think that what we have to be
thinking about is protecting the Philippines.
All right?
QUESTION: Sir, Jom from Daily Tribune. Sir, may we know if there were any agreements or
other defense and security areas that has been signed between you and President
Trump in your earlier meeting with him? And if that’s the case, we also wanted
to clarify there’s
a line in U.S. Defense Chief Pete Hegseth remarks from your
meeting with him yesterday, he said that “We are also deploying a new
cutting-edge missiles and...unmanned system[s] and revitalizing [our] defense industrial
bases.” May we get -- can you elaborate more on that, sir?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Before I do that, let’s go back to your jobs
question.
QUESTION:. Maybe
the Secretary of Defense can best answer that.
How many jobs will be created by the facilities that we are doing for the
provision of ammunition for our military?
DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENSE SECRTEARY GILBERTO TEODORO JR.: I believe the
original concept, although it is funded by the U.S. Congress, it will be
FDI [Foreign Direct Investment]. So,
it’s a foreign direct investment concept.
We can envision a private entity going about it
on a commercial basis, so that they can hire people on a commercial basis.
Depending on the scale, initially about 200 to 300 people, highly technical
people. But then, there are downstream industries. Of course, they will have to
build access to port facilities. It will regenerate revenue on a commercial
basis for Subic.
It will increase our trade flows. So, that is an example of U.S.
government-sponsored foreign direct investment to help our people and our
self-reliance, too.
So, that will also cater to commonality of production of munitions, which is at
a worldwide shortage at this time, of all calibers, whether direct fire or
indirect fire.
And as we go on, we will review the business proposal, because it is on a
business case basis, being foreign direct investment. And then after we finalize
the details, we will have more to report.
PRESIDENT MARCOS: All right, and to your
question now -- stay here first because this is....
As a matter of fact, there were -- during the meetings, there were no agreements
that were up for discussion at the time, kasi sandali lang [just for the
moment]. Actually Secretary
Gilbert, yes, Secretary Gilbert and the other Cabinet secretaries came ahead.
They -- some of them were here. They’re 17, more or less around there.
So, maraming na silang napag-usapan [they have talked a lot]. But you’ll have to understand whatever
defense arrangements were arrived at, not so we cannot talk about because there
are operational details. But maybe there is something that you can discuss.
SEC. TEODORO: Well, sir, the gist of the discussion was the enhancement of our
ongoing collaborative activities, bilaterally and multilaterally.
Of course, we are nuancing The
Balikatan as an interoperability exercise that in
the case too, it also readies the Armed Forces of the Philippines to adapt to
new skill sets, face new threats and challenges, and ultimately acquire this
necessary infrastructure for introducing new systems, including the current
systems.
And so this is a major part of the takeaways from this trip the enhanced
cooperation, including assurance of support for our continuing modernization of
the military, our armed forces through the Philippine sectors,
Security Sector
Assistance Roadmap and the
Philippines Enhanced Resilience Act.
And we’re very thankful for the continued advocacy of the Trump Administration
for it in connection with the U.S. legislature under the leadership of President
Marcos.
QUESTION: Sir, different topic lang po
[just please]. May we know if the topic of the immigration,
particularly on the undocumented Filipinos, has been raised or not?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: It’s not been raised. It was not
-- not in this forum. But we
are, of course, well aware of the situation.
And thus far, I think, in our situation estimation, what the United States is
doing now is not anything different than they’ve been doing before.
Ito ‘yung mga may record o ‘yung mga wanted, o ‘yung mga convicted, lalong-lalo
na kung sila ay illegal, TNT1 sila, iyon ang mga pinapauwi nila.
[These are the ones with records or the ones who
are wanted, or the ones who are convicted, especially if they are illegal, they
are TNT, those are the ones they send home.]
Sa ngayon, ‘yung mga pinapauwi nila ganoon pa rin
[Right now, the ones they're sending home are still the same]. Those that have been
convicted of committing crimes that are also, in fact, illegal. So, that’s the
situation with the immigration so far.
QUESTION: Sir, good afternoon. Sir,
ES Bersamin
mentioned that you were
dismayed with
the preparation of -- for putting up tarpaulins days before your
SONA [State of the Nation Address]. Can we
have more details about that, sir?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Yes, yes. Well, it was a surprise. I only found out early this
morning when I got up. That’s what they’re doing.
And that’s why I fully agree with what has been done. It is highly
inappropriate. And I suppose may utos sila na magtayo -- maglagay kayo ng ano
kung saan. Hindi na nasabi. Eh baha na nga, bakit pa kayo maglalagay diyan [They
were ordered to build -- put something where. It wasn't said. Well, it's already
flooded, why would you put something there?].
So, the order didn’t go out, but it has now. We say just...paubaya ninyo na muna
‘yan. Ayusin ninyo na muna ‘yung ating [leave that alone for now. First, fix
our] response [to] Crising.
So, yeah, that is an unfortunate misjudgment on their part. But we’ve corrected
it, and I trust it will not happen anymore.
QUESTION: But, sir, may we know where are we, or where are you in terms of the
preparation of SONA. It’s already on Monday. So gaano po ba kahaba ‘yung ine-expect
natin [How far along are you]? How different is this SONA from your previous SONAs?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Well, they’re all a little different from each other. But they
will be different because the situation -- and you have to remember it’s the
State of the Nation Address. And the state of the nation today is different from
what it was last year and the last year before that.
So, of course, necessarily it will be different. We will be talking about mainly
the same things about the social projects of the government for people in need.
We will talk about the programs that we are going to -- that we have initiated
and will continue to promote and endorse as we -- until the end of -- certainly
--
at the very least, until the end of this term. Hopefully, it will continue after
my term. So, that’s what we expect from the SONA.
How far along are we? Well, when I knew that I was coming to the United States
to meet with President Trump, I’ve cleared my schedule, and I said, we have to
take -- we’re going to lose four days. So, we have to make it up.
So, I cleared my schedule. We’ve been working very hard on it. As soon as I get
back, we’ll be working on it again.
But I’m -- we will be there -- we will be back Wednesday evening. We’ll start work
on a Thursday. I’m sure we’ll work on it over the weekend.
So, mahahabol namin ‘yun [We can catch up with that]. I think we’ll be all right. Because what we have
already written is substantial in terms of… The SONA is about 80 percent
written. So, kaunti na lang ‘yung ano [just a little bit more] fine-tuning.
QUESTION: Sir, pahabol lang po on other issue. Related po sa typhoon. May we know kung
bakit po na-approve ‘yung request ni Secretary Jonvic Remulla na siya na ‘yung
mag-announce ng suspension of work and classes? Ano po ‘yung wisdom doon sa DILG?
[Just a follow-up on another issue. Related to the
typhoon. Do we know why Secretary Jonvic Remulla's request to announce the
suspension of work and classes was approved? What is the wisdom in the DILG
(Department of the Interior and Local Government?]
PRESIDENT MARCOS: So that the dissemination of information is better. That is
very simple.
Because if there is.... Ganoon ‘yun kasi halimbawa ikaw ‘yung [That's the
way it is because you are an example] -- it affects you,
where do you? Who do you -- where do you go? Which website do you consult?
So, pagka ganito, basta’t sinabi na, the SILG will make the announcement and
that is what… Wala ng fake news. Iyon na ‘yung katotohanan. Iyon na ‘yung totoo.
[So, if this is the case, just say that the SILG
will make the announcement and that's what... There is no fake news. That is the
truth. That's true.]
So, it’s just simple. It’s just to make things clearer because sometimes
nagkakaproblema because.... Hindi naman malicious, misinformed lang, tapos pino-post.
Sinusundan ngayon ng tao, mali naman pala.
[There's a problem because... It's not malicious,
it's just misinformed, and then it's posted. People are following it now, but
it's wrong.]
So, we’re just trying to improve that
system.
QUESTION: Sir, on the DILG topic. Sir, Secretary Remulla has been drawing flak for how
he actually tweets or posts his statement in the words of netizens, “it’s too
informal.” Medyo pa-joke po kasi ‘yung sabi niya
[What he said was a bit of a joke]. Have you advised him on this
matter? What do you make out of these criticisms? And go ahead, sir.
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Criticize people. Criticize me for the way I speak. But what
--
that’s the way I speak; that’s the way he speaks.
As long as he gets the message across, that’s what it’s for. That’s what all of
these postings are for and get some information across. And as long as he
achieves that, then -- he is… He manages to do what he sets out to do, I don’t
really…
I am not exactly a judge of -- how do you say? -- literary style. I don’t know how
you want to put it. So that’s really.... I have to consider that out of my purview.
QUESTION: Good afternoon, Mr. President. As you assess the
Administration this year, as
we will hear on Monday in your address, and given your consistent performance
review, are there changes, or what are the changes you want to make, and can we
get an update on the performance review, sir?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Wait for the SONA. Ikaw naman
[You, too.] You will steal my thunder, ‘di ba?
Mawawala ‘yung ano ko [Right? I'll lose what I have.]
Like I said, hindi pa naman tapos [it's not finished yet]. But I think everything that the -- all that we
need to impart to the people will be in the SONA, in the speech in the SONA.
QUESTION: Yes, sir. Sandra po
[please] from GMA-7. Mr. President, there was mention of U.S.
assistance, especially the Armed Forces of the United States helping us with the
relief operations. And may we get more information. How are we going to operationalize, for instance, the use of EDCA sites, and are they going to bring
in relief goods or equipment perhaps to help us?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: The answer is simply yes. All of them. As a matter of fact,
Admiral Paparo, the commander of the Indo-Pacific Command of the United States,
left early upon our suggestion na makabalik na siya para maumpisahan na ang
pagdala ng tulong para sa ating mga naging biktima dito sa Crising [that
he return so that we can begin bringing aid to our victims here in,
Crising].
And I know that -- I think he spoke to Secretary Gilbert this morning and last
night, and sabi niya nag-umpisa na [he said that he had already started]. So, maybe you can thresh that out?
SEC. TEODORO: The EDCA sites that are up and running maybe Fort Magsaysay, do
contain relief goods already prepositioned.
Now, what we need as of this time, not yet, but we foresee, because of the
merging of the two tropical depressions and the incoming monsoons, that we will
need their assistance in terms of airlift and other capabilities.
And so, Admiral Paparo is coordinating with
General Brawner, our J3, and the
INDOPACOM-J3 Operations are already coordinating so that the needed
capabilities are brought in.
But I repeat, that there are relief goods in place already that have been
prepositioned by the U.S. government.
Now, it is the mobility assistance that we do need. We do have sufficient Black
Hawks in order to lift goods to vulnerable areas when conditions permit.
But if we need to do it on a higher scale, for example, like
what happened in Naga City last year, which we need to plan for, we have to have the coordinated
mechanisms for easy deployment of these capabilities.
Every deployment, mind you, is very costly on both our side and their side, more
so on their side. Because these capabilities are coming out of the theater --
into the theater, so they entail considerable costs.
Therefore, even on our utilization of our own air assets, this has to be
coordinated so that we make maximum use of the asset and do not waste cargo
space, and flying time, and ship time.
We will also have assistance because we need the assistance and the coordination
first -- before assistance, coordination -- on mobility, because a road network
sometimes cannot carry heavy loads.
So, we need to airlift them. We need the
V-22 Ospreys. We need the
Chinooks. If
ever there comes a time which we anticipate because the rains will come, that we
will need a coordinated response.
So, that needs advanced planning. Hence, Admiral Paparo’s return to Hawaii and
General Brawner’s constant communication with him.
PRESIDENT MARCOS: If you remember when I visited the repacking plant, if you
want to call it, at the DSWD [Department of Social Welfare and Development], we were saying that ready already. When we first
--
when I first came into office, the reserves in terms of relief food packs was
half a million, 500,000.
That has now been increased to 3 million. And I bring it up only to further
illustrate how
EDCA [Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement] is being used for
HADR [Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief].
And ‘yung iba doon, doon sa 3 million na food packs, doon nakaistasyon na ‘yan
sa EDCA areas, especially those in the most vulnerable areas for typhoons and
for flooding.
[And the rest of them, those 3 million food packs,
are already stationed in the EDCA areas, especially those in the most vulnerable
areas for typhoons and for flooding.]
And also, of course, ngayon [now] we have to worry about Kanlaon, we have to worry
about ‘yung pagputok ng bulkan [the volcano erupting]. So, those incidents as well, and any other
incidents that may come up that we cannot predict.
QUESTION: Good afternoon po, sir. Chzian Salazar from RMN. Going back po sa tariff, how
would you justify po sa [sir, please] Filipino people, especially to our small exporters and
manufacturers, that a 19 percent tariff is acceptable or fair?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: It is not our decision. So, I don’t have.... I will justify any
decision I make, but it’s not my decision.
That number doesn’t come from the Philippine government.
So, you will have to ask whoever imposed the 19 percent tariff how they justify
it. I couldn’t answer it.
QUESTION: Last po, sir. Your reaction
po [sir] because Senator Imee Marcos suggested pushing
for a 10 percent tariff in dealing with the U.S. trade policy. Was this issue
raised during your bilateral meeting po?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Which the?
QUESTION: Ten percent
po ‘yung sina-suggest na [is what is being suggested]
--
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Our bilateral meeting with whom?
QUESTION: With President Trump.
PRESIDENT MARCOS: No, it didn’t come up.
Again, if anyone can bring us down to 10 percent, it will certainly be welcomed.
But no, it didn’t come up at all.
All right? With that, o sige, maraming salamat
[okay, thank you very much].
Thank you very much. Good afternoon.
1
Abbreviated from the Tagalog Tago ng Tago,
meaning "always hiding"
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7/24/25
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