Marcos heads to Singapore after wrapping up 'productive' visit to Indonesia
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. headed straight to Singapore after wrapping up his “productive” first state visit as the country’s chief executive in Indonesia.
Marcos will conclude his first string of international travels on Wednesday, September 7, after a pit stop to Singapore upon the invitation of its President Halimah Yacob. He will meet with both Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
While there, the Philippines and Singapore are expected to sign agreements on counter-terrorism and data privacy.
Marcos arrived in the Lion City at around 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday and according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), he will meet with the Filipino community there later in the early evening.
After ceremonial activities and a bilateral meeting on Thursday, officials from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Department of Finance will lead the Philippine economic team in briefing the Singapore business community on investment opportunities in the Philippines.
Agreements with Indonesia
Marcos left Indonesia with four agreements signed, including the Philippines-Indonesia Plan of Action for 2022 to 2027 signed by the DFA and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia. The DFA said this is a “comprehensive document that outlines bilateral programs and commitments for the next five years on a wide range of areas of cooperation.”
The Plan of Action takes into consideration a multitude of efforts such as working together on security, defense, and border management as well as counter-terrorism, economy, energy, maritime, culture and education, labor, health and consular matters.
Meanwhile, the Philippines and Indonesia also signed a memorandum of understanding on the development and promotion of creative economy through the Department of Trade and Industry and Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.
The agreement entails “cultivating a creative economy” through the sharing of knowledge between the two countries in areas such as fashion, digital media, and other creative industries.
Indonesia and the Philippines also renewed the 1997 Agreement on Cooperative Activities in the field of Defense and Security and their memorandum of understanding on cultural cooperation.
READ: Philippines, Indonesia to expand cooperation on creative economy, culture
Marcos also said his visit to Indonesia was “more productive” than he anticipated as talks with his counterpart there progressed quickly, reaching to technical level versus the usual ministerial level.
He also said that he asked assistance from Indonesia to help the Philippines foster its fisheries sector and discussed how the two countries would further develop its energy trade volume.
READ: Marcos says visit to Indonesia was 'more productive than expected'
Met with Filipino community, but no visit for Mary Jane Veloso
Marcos first met with the Filipino community and overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Indonesia upon landing there. However, he made no mention of detained OFW Mary Jane Veloso.
READ: Marcos meets with Pinoys in Indonesia
Migrante International, a coalition of OFW groups and their families across the world, was disappointed that Veloso went unmentioned during the event.
“Sana man lang binanggit niya po ang pangalan ni Mary Jane Veloso at ang kaniyang commitment na tugunan ang problema ng human trafficking, protektahan ang ating mga kababayan, bigyan ng hustisya ang mga nagiging biktima,” Migrante International Chairperson Joanna Concepcion said in a prayer rally for Veloso on Monday.
(He could have at least mentioned Mary Jane Veloso’s name and his commitment to address the problem of human trafficking, in protecting our countrymen, and to help give justice to those who fall victim.)
Government officials on the trip refrained from commenting on how the Philippines will be approaching Mary Jane Veloso’s case but Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles on Monday said Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo “brought it up” in a meeting with his counterpart, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi.
However, no further details were provided, with Cruz-Angeles saying: “These are very sensitive issues as you know, it is a public matter that she has been convicted but our DFA continues to look for solutions.”
As of press time, the discussion between Manalo and Marsudi has yet to be disclosed.
READ: Marcos admin cautious on Mary Jane Veloso's case
Veloso is an OFW who has been detained in Indonesia for over a decade now. She was convicted for smuggling heroin through the lining of her luggage and was put on death row.
However, her sentence was stayed in 2015 after the Philippine government argued that she could testify against her recruiters.
READ: Nueva Ecija court convicts Mary Jane recruiters
Before Marcos left the country for his state visits, Veloso’s parents asked Marcos to appeal to Widodo for their daughter’s executive clemency.
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