page_title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada
section_title: Foreign policies
hierarchical_section_title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada / Foreign policies
caption_attribution_description: English: President Joseph Estrada with President Bill Clinton.
context_page_description: The Presidency of Joseph Estrada, also known as the Estrada Administration in the Philippines spanned for 31 months from June 30, 1998 to January 20, 2001. Estrada reached the pinnacle of his political career when he was elected President of the Republic in the May 11, 1998 national elections. With almost 11 million Filipinos writing his name on the ballot, his margin of victory was the biggest ever registered in Philippine electoral history.
  Speaking before millions gathered at his inaugural address in Manila, the newly elected chief executive said his presidency would serve the Filipino masses whose welfare had long been neglected. A line from his speech, "Walang kaibigan, walang kumpare, walang kamag-anak", was a stern warning against anyone who would attempt to undermine his administration with influence-peddling. Determined to bring his pro-poor platform to every facet of the government's operations, he immediately ordered the removal of all sovereign guarantees on contracts for public projects which would require the sovereign Filipino people to assume the financial losses of private companies doing business with the government.
context_section_description: The Estrada administration upheld the foreign policy thrusts of the Ramos administration, focusing on national security, economic diplomacy, assistance to nationals, and image-building. The Philippines continued to be at the forefront of the regional and multilateral arena. It successfully hosted the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in July 1998 and undertook confidence-building measures with China over South China Sea issue through a meeting in March 1999. President Estrada strengthened bilateral ties with neighboring countries with visits to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea.
  The country also sent a delegation of 108 observers to the Indonesian parliamentary elections, and engaged in cooperative activities in the areas of security, defense, combating transnational crimes, economy, culture, and the protection of OFWs and Filipinos abroad.
caption: President Joseph Ejercito Estrada with U.S. President Bill Clinton at the oval office.
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