BY this morning, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will be back in Manila after a grueling schedule in the various summits held in Phnom Penh. His four-day stay in the Cambodian capital was packed with business meetings, socializing with fellow state leaders, six bilateral talks, and a meet and greet with the Filipino community.
A dozen summits in three days must have sapped the energy of any president, but Marcos Jr. was so enthusiastic in his ASEAN debut that he chose not to miss any opportunity to make a dent for the Philippine participation in these regional conferences.
There were 12 summits held in Cambodia. They were the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits, 25th ASEAN-China Summit, 23rd ASEAN-South Korea Summit, ASEAN-United Nations Summit, 25th ASEAN Plus Three Summit, 19th ASEAN-India Summit, 2nd ASEAN-Australia Summit, 25th ASEAN-Japan Summit, 10th ASEAN-US Summit, ASEAN-Canada Commemorative Summit, 2nd ASEAN Global Dialogue and 17th East Asia Summit.
The Philippines’ diplomatic initiatives were fleshed out by Marcos as he pushed for the speedy implementation of the Five-Point Consensus, a peace treaty for junta-ruled Myanmar; a call on Ukraine and Russia to try diplomacy anew to resolve their conflict; support for East Timor’s eventual membership in ASEAN; and a request to North Korea to comply with United Nations resolutions in light of its recent ballistic missile launches.
‘To sum up, President Marcos’ participation in these regional summits may be considered as just fulfilling the ordinary course of business in the Office of the President, and he returned with just enough goodwill and social graces coming from hobnobbing with other state leaders.’
Other positions taken by Marcos are expected and most popular with Filipinos: wanted South China Sea claimants to come up with the long-delayed Code of Conduct, aside from concerns and proposed solutions to problems of rising oil prices, climate change and food security.
It was reported, too, that Cambodian business leaders have agreed to work with the government and the private sector in the fields of agriculture, low-cost housing and digitalization, although it is in the field of POGO that the two countries are known for.
At the sidelines of the summits, Marcos sat down with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on different days for bilateral discussions.
The President also had brief conversations with China Premier Li Keqiang, who assured him of China’s cooperation to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea based on mutual respect; as well as with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
To sum up, President Marcos’ participation in these regional summits may be considered as just fulfilling the ordinary course of business in the Office of the President, and he returned with just enough goodwill and social graces coming from hobnobbing with other state leaders.
