UNITED States Vice President Kamala Harris is in Manila for official talks with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. amid growing instability and turbulence in the world. This visit has raised hopes that it could lead to some post-Covid aid from our strongest ally. At the same time it has raised some fears that our ally is preparing us for war. Bongbong Marcos (BBM) will need to convey to his honored guest as clearly as possible that one of the things we Filipinos hate the most is war.

Kamala Harris is the first woman vice president of the US, also the first African American and Asian American to hold the office. Some of her predecessors who had visited the Philippines, like Lyndon Baines Johnson and George W. Bush, eventually became president. As this visit comes not too far away from the next US presidential elections, some observers think it could help Harris, a Democrat, decide whether or not to run for president, especially if the incumbent President Joe Biden does not run again or is prevented from seeking a second term.