JUST days after arriving from the United States and the United Kingdom, President Marcos Jr. Is set to leave again today, this time for Indonesia to attend the 42nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit.
The President, at the summit, is expected to assert the importance of demonstrating ASEAN’s centrality in the region amid geopolitical issues.
Marcos is also expected to push for long-term food and energy security efforts toward economic recovery, combating transnational crimes, upgrading technical and vocational education and training, adopting climate and disaster resilient technologies and transitioning to renewable and alternative energy technologies, and the protection of migrant workers, among others.
Marcos will attend the summit’s opening ceremony on May 10, which will be followed by the leaders’ Plenary Session, and a series of meetings among ASEAN leaders and representatives and/or delegates of ASEAN bodies such as the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the ASEAN Youth Representatives, ASEAN Business Advisory Council or ASEAN-BAC, High-Level Task Force on the ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision.
On May 11, the President will attend the 15th Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Summit and discuss developments and the BIMP-EAGA Vision 2025 towards promoting economic development, strengthening connectivity and sustainable management of natural resources in the sub-region.
It will be Marcos’ second visit to Indonesia. His first trip as president was a state visit to Indonesia in 2022.
It will be the President’s 13th foreign trip abroad and Indonesia is the 10th country he will visit. He has travelled twice to Singapore and the US.
Marcos arrived late Sunday from the UK after attending ceremonies for the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said there was “no arrival honors” when the President landed at the Villamor Airbase on Sunday night around 10:30 pm.
The President, in a statement yesterday, said he relayed to King Charles the Filipinos’ wish for him to have a long and happy reign.
“It was as grand and magnificent a ceremony as could have been, full of symbolism and weighted by history. It was a great honor for me to represent the Philippines on such a historic occasion,” Marcos said.
In a social media post on Sunday, the President said he also talked to King Charles about the “thriving relationship between the Philippines and the United Kingdom, which has been promising in increasing trade, investment, and cultural exchanges for the Filipino people.”
Marcos and First Lady Liza Marcos, and several members of the President’s delegation flew to the UK directly from the United States where he had made an official visit from April 30 to May 4 and met among others, American President Joseph Biden.
