Marcos visits Singapore

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos arrived in Singapore past noon yesterday for a two-day state visit intended to bolster bilateral relations and cooperation in several areas between the two countries, including counterterrorism and data privacy.

Marcos, accompanied by First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and other members of the Philippine delegation, arrived at the Changi International Airport at 12:45 p.m., the second leg of his inaugural overseas trip as Chief Executive.

Marcos visited Singapore at the invitation of President Halimah Yacob.

Earlier, Marcos met with Indonesia President Joko Widodo in Jakarta, where they witnessed the signing of four cooperation agreements on defense, trade, cultural and people-to-people exchanges and creative economy.

The President kicked off his two-day visit to Singapore with a meeting with over 1,500 Filipinos at the Ho Bee Auditorium of the National University of Singapore last night.

An estimated 200,000 Filipinos live and work in Singapore, 58 percent of whom are registered as professionals and skilled workers, while 42 percent are employed as household service workers, according to government data.

Singapore was the second largest source of overseas Filipino remittances worldwide for the year 2021 amounting to $2.20 billion.

This morning, Marcos and his wife will visit the Singapore Botanical Garden, where a new orchid hybrid will be named in their honor.

Breakfast will follow to be hosted by Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Also scheduled for today are separate bilateral meetings with Yacob and Lee.

Marcos and Lee will also witness the signing of an agreement between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Singapore Armed Forces on the assignment of a Filipino representative to the Counter Terrorism Information Facility (CTIF).

Established in Singapore in 2021, the CTIF is a multilateral platform for monitoring, research and analysis of terrorist activities.

The two countries will likewise enter into a memorandum of understanding on personal data protection, which will be signed by the National Privacy Commission and the Personal Data Protection Commission of Singapore.

In the afternoon, Marcos is scheduled to participate in an economic briefing led by the Department of Finance and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and in a roundtable meeting with the business community in Singapore.