‘… President Marcos’ overarching objective is to define where the Philippines stands on key issues currently affecting the globe.’
PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is in New York to address the United Nations General Assembly tomorrow, Sept. 20. Also during this first visit to the United States, Marcos will be having one-on-one meetings with a couple of heads of state and international leaders and meet American businessmen presumably to encourage them to invest in the Philippines or to goad them into expanding their investments here.
There is no assurance, though, if Marcos will have a short meeting with US President Joe Biden because such a proposed meeting is announced a few minutes before it happens, says the PH Ambassador to the US, Jose Manuel Romualdez.
In both the UN General Assembly speech and official bilateral meetings with leaders of various nations, President Marcos’ overarching objective is to define where the Philippines stands on key issues currently affecting the globe. These are regional and global security, economy, trade, foreign relations and climate change.
While PBBM’s speech before world leaders won’t be known until he delivers it, the ambassador believes Marcos would stress on global peace and security. “He looks at the world now as the global prosperity and recovering from the pandemic require all nations to work together,” he said.
Ambassador Romualdez also puts a premium on the topic of climate change which he said is “very important to us.”
“A lot of movement is in that direction, clean energy, new technology, all of these things are going to play a role. And the Philippines, fortunately for us, we have a lot to offer in terms of raw materials, for instance, biofuels, electric cars, our minerals and these things. So we have to take advantage of the new world, so to speak, and I think President Marcos realizes that, fortunately,” Romualdez said.
Just like in his earlier trips to Indonesia and Singapore, President Marcos will make a pitch for further investments and business opportunities available for foreign capital in the Philippines. This is the concern of all Philippine presidents before him, and Marcos is not expected to pivot a change. As a developing nation, the Philippines is dependent to a large extent on more foreign direct investments to grow its economy.
While our new President is busy making a mark in the international scene and trying to sell the country as a destination of investments and tourism, it is a pity that a small group of Filipinos in the US are actively undermining his efforts, even asking Biden to disinvite Marcos in the planned US state visit.
