By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
With a firm commitment to expanding the Philippines’ diplomatic footprint on the global stage, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. continues to embrace new ambassadors-designate as they assume their duties in the Southeast Asian nation.
In two separate engagements late Monday, the President welcomed the envoys of Türkiye and Egypt as they presented their credentials at Malacañang.
President Marcos Jr. addressed Ambassador-designate Kaan Esener, “Yet there are many things that we can continue to explore and hopefully develop for our future… to deepen future relations. Again, welcome to Manila, welcome to the Philippines.”
For his part, the Turkish ambassador said multilateralism and respect for international law and the main principles of the UN Charter are primary pillars of his government.
Philippines-Türkiye diplomatic relations were formally established on June 13, 1949, with Istanbul ranking as the Philippines’ 36th trading partner (out of 228), 28th export market (out of 212), and 40th import supplier (out of 215), as well as hosting 8,994 Filipinos as of June 2026.
In welcoming Egypt Ambassador-designate Ihab Ahmed Aboserie Ahmed, President Marcos Jr. said the Philippines and Egypt have enjoyed a long history of friendship at every level and should continue to develop and to grow the strong relationship in the coming years.
The President told the Egyptian ambassador, “I look forward to the time that you will be here with us in the Philippines and work that…we can look together to do more to bring our countries closer, deepen our relations and find many, many areas that perhaps we have not looked at before to explore and develop.”
Philippines-Egypt diplomatic ties were formally established on March 3, 1946, with Cairo serving as Manila’s 71st trading partner, 72nd export destination, and 70th import source, respectively, as well as hosting around 2,371 Filipinos.
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