By Alec Go
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s state visit to Indonesia and Singapore from Sept. 4 to Sept. 7 is aiming to bolster Philippines’ economic, political, security, and diplomatic ties with the two Southeast Asian nations, a foreign affairs official said Friday, Sept. 2.
During a pre-departure briefing, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said Marcos will meet Presidents Joko Widodo and Halimah Yacob, business leaders, and Filipino communities in his foreign engagement.
“As close neighbors and founding members of ASEAN, the Philippines enjoys active engagement with both Indonesia and Singapore in terms of myriad areas including security and defense, trade and investment, people-to-people exchanges, and more,” Daza said, in response to queries why Indonesia and Singapore were selected for the inaugural visits.
Daza said the Philippine delegation is also “preparing a number of business agreements to be signed in both countries” in the infrastructure, renewable energy, food, and security sectors.
Secretaries Enrique Manalo, Benjamin Diokno, Alfredo Pascual, Amenah Pangandaman, Arsenio Balisacan, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Felipe Medalla will be joining the delegation.
Indonesia trip
Marcos’ stay in Indonesia aims to “solidify the close political, diplomatic, and security ties”, with discussions and signing set for several agreements.
“Indonesia is also the largest economy and country in ASEAN and has the largest population and market offering great potential for further economic engagements,” she said, adding that Indonesia is also a “close partner” in maritime cooperation.
Manila and Jakarta will sign a 2022-2027 plan of action that will set “a comprehensive and actionable roadmap” for security and defense, border management, counter-terrorism, economy, energy, maritime affairs, culture, education, labor, health, and consular matters.
Also set to be renewed is the 1997 deal on cooperative activities in defense and security covering defense establishment, engagement in joint training activities, border security, exchange of visit, education, information sharing, and interoperability development.
The memorandum of understanding on cultural cooperation will also be renewed.
Singapore visit
Daza said they are envisioning in the Singapore visit the arrangement concerning the assignment of a team to the regional Counter Terrorism Information Facility.
“By deploying a Philippine officer, the Philippines can share its experience and expertise in addressing or combating terrorism at the same time, gather valuable intelligence from other countries and expand its defense network,” she said.
They are also expecting an MOU on data protection to strengthen digitization efforts and “engendering trust in cross-border data flows and helping to protect the data privacy.”
“The President’s state visit to Singapore aims to bolster the robust economic ties and encourage more investments to the Philippines to support our country’s post-pandemic recovery,” she said.
