MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network): President Ferdinand Marcos Jr may go to South-East Asian countries for his first round of state visits, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez said on Wednesday.
“I am told by our friends in Malacañang that the president is really looking first to travel to Asean,” the ambassador said at a news forum in Manila.
Romualdez said the chief executive had been invited to visit by US President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping and the European Union, but Marcos Jr wanted to go to Indonesia and Singapore first.
Romualdez did not say if or when Marcos Jr would visit the United States, but Biden had already invited the President through a letter handed by US lawyer Douglas Emhoff, the husband of US Vice-President Kamala Harris.
Instead, the ambassador hinted that Marcos Jr may attend the UN General Assembly in September and that he would probably meet with Biden there as the American leader had already said he would attend the UN session.
“One thing for sure is that they will probably have a chance to meet at the United Nations in New York because Biden will definitely attend the United Nations General Assembly,” Romualdez said, adding that his cousin was interested in making the trip to New York.
The ambassador said the September trip to the UN was among the plans he was told, but the Department of Foreign Affairs will only confirm the schedule after his state of the nation address.
During the weekly Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, there was no mention of the scheduled state visits, but the President did mention that the Philippines should emulate Singapore, particularly in tourism.
In a press statement, Malacañang quoted the President as saying that Singapore had shown how policy and infrastructure were “so important” in boosting the tourism industry.
“That means that it can be done. We just have to support the plan to develop all of these enabling environment — the policy, conditions, and infrastructure,” Marcos Jr told his Cabinet from confinement in his home because of his Covid-19 infection last week.
But the Palace announced on Wednesday that the president’s physician, Dr Samuel Zacate, had cleared Marcos Jr for release from isolation on Friday.
Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said the Philippines was “certainly not at a disadvantage” with regard to the availability of natural resources and manpower resources, according to Malacañang.
“But certainly, many measures could be improved as far as policy regulations, both on the national and local level, and proper coordination,” Frasco said, adding that Singapore has “really mastered this”.
Frasco earlier said the government must invest heavily in infrastructure projects to improve connectivity and access to tourist destinations in the Philippines.
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