PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is in the United States to attend the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in San Francisco, California from Nov. 15 to 17.
In his departure speech, Marcos said he will focus on beneficial trade, investment, green job generation, human development and poverty alleviation.
He pointed out that this year’s APEC Summit, with the theme “Creating a Sustainable and Resilient Future for All,” is aligned with his administration’s national interest to transform the Philippines toward a “sustainable future” that will give Filipinos a “stable, comfortable and secure” life.
Specifically, the President said he will engage “with the leaders of the economies of the Asia-Pacific region to agree on how we can achieve food and energy security, economic inclusion of our micro, small, and medium enterprises, women, indigenous people, and other segments whose economic potential remains to be unlocked through digitalization and innovation, and sustainable development and addressing the climate change crisis.”
‘…Marcos’ presence at APEC will just be overshadowed by the more important historic meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Biden.’
Malacañang and the Department of Foreign Affairs are giving the APEC Summit the importance it deserves. After all, the Asia-Pacific region hosts 38 percent of the world’s population, 48 percent of its trade, and 62 percent of its gross domestic product. The Philippines’ top grade and investment partners are in this region, comprising 85 percent of the country’s trade, commerce, industries and finance. You wouldn’t want your President to be absent in this significant meeting, even if the topics cited by the President were the same issues talked about in Bali last year, or in his previous trips to Europe and the US.
All these issues are good to hear and the plans expected to come out from these bilateral meetings are most welcome, but in the final analysis ordinary Filipinos would want to ask, “What’s in it for us?”
Never mind the meetings with Filipino communities in Hawaii, California and Washington which are just “socials.” More important perhaps is Marcos’ visit to the US Indo-Pacific Command and a likely security briefing on the situation in the South China Sea. His meeting with US President Joseph Biden on the summit sidelines is also well anticipated, as the two leaders have many things to discuss and Filipinos are perhaps tired of the old American assurance of “iron-clad security assistance” – interestingly the same words Biden uttered to Israel’s Netanyahu after the October 7 attacks by Hamas.
However, Marcos’ presence at APEC will just be overshadowed by the more important historic meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Biden.
Whatever matters Biden and Xi agree on or fight over will have a direct implication on the rest of the APEC member-economies. The meeting of the two presidents of the world’s biggest economies is of prime importance for both sides, mainly because of developments in their countries that are being influenced by two significant wars now ongoing on the planet.
Xi grapples with the problem of a severe downturn in the Chinese economy, creating problems such as unemployment and low volume of foreign direct investments. He will also need to seek assurances over the status of Taiwan, which is another potential hot spot in this part of the globe.
Biden, for his part, is facing another national election, which increases the stakes for him in this one-on-one meeting on the APEC sidelines. He is perceived to favor a thaw in the icy US relationship with China, even as he may want Xi to use his influence with Iran to prevent a bigger conflagration in the Israel-Palestine region, or the whole of West Asia.
In fine, APEC will just be an opportunity for Marcos to be in the center of things as world events unfold, hoping that his participation, however limited, will redound to direct benefits for the Filipino people.
