Defence and investment top Marcos’ agenda in state visits to Indonesia, Singapore
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is expected to prioritise defence issues and investment opportunities when he meets with the leaders of Indonesia and Singapore during his inaugural state visits next week.
Marcos will be visiting Indonesia from Sunday to next Tuesday, before heading to Singapore from next Tuesday to Wednesday.
“The President’s back-to-back visits to Indonesia and Singapore as his inaugural overseas trip demonstrate the importance the Philippines places on relations with fellow Asean neighbours,” said the Philippines’ Foreign Affairs Ministry in a statement on Thursday.
In his meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Marcos plans to discuss their countries’ “multi-faceted cooperation” in defence, maritime, border, economic and people-to-people cooperation.
The two presidents will sign several key agreements on defence and culture. They also intend to finalise a plan of action charting the bilateral priorities in the next five years.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo earlier said Marcos will raise the case of Filipina death row inmate Mary Jane Veloso in his meeting with Widodo.
Veloso is a former domestic worker charged with drug trafficking in Indonesia. But she maintains that her recruiters had tricked her by planting the drugs in the seams of her suitcase.
She was supposed to be executed by a firing squad in April 2015. But Widodo spared her life at the 11th hour following the arrest of her recruiters in the Philippines and an appeal from the late president Benigno Aquino III.
In Singapore, Marcos will have separate meetings with President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to discuss regional and global issues.
Marcos and PM Lee are also set to sign key agreements involving counter-terrorism and data privacy issues.
In addition, Marcos plans to meet business leaders in Indonesia and Singapore to attract more investment to the Philippines.
Singapore is the Philippines’ top trading partner in Asean, with total trade hitting US$ 11.14 billion (S$15.6 billion) last year. Indonesia also considers the Philippines as a key hub for investments, with total bilateral trade valued at US$9.5 billion last year.
Marcos will also meet Filipino communities in both nations to give them the assurance of the Philippine government’s commitment to protect the rights of its citizens overseas.