President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. welcomed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday, the highest ranking American official to visit the Philippines since he took office, although the meeting came at a delicate time as ties between Washington and Beijing have rapidly plummeted to their worst level in years.
There was no live broadcast of the morning visit by Blinken at the presidential palace in Manila on the state-run TV network, which showed a local agricultural program and later reported on the the visit of America's top diplomat in a brief newscast. Only a few Manila-based journalists were allowed in a pool coverage of the event.
