Marcos Jr. on ASEAN trip: Successful, very interesting

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos described his participation in the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia last week – his first as Chief Executive – as “successful” and a “very interesting experience.”

The four-day summits, Marcos said, gave him the opportunity to put forward the country’s stance on pressing global issues as well as its plans, including post-pandemic recovery, with fellow leaders in the region and other heads of state, including US President Joe Biden.

“We also got the opportunity to put forward our position, our plans and to find ways where we can help each other,” the President said in his arrival speech after touching down at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City early yesterday.

In an interview with the Philippine media delegation in Phnom Penh on Sunday, Marcos said the ASEAN Summit was a learning experience for him and also significant as it was the first to be held in person since the pandemic struck in 2020.

“What I learned in this – having attended this ASEAN Summit is that each country has many commonalities, which should not really be surprising, considering that we’re all around – we’re all from the same area,” the President said.

“So there are very many similar problems, of course. And we always talk about recovering from the pandemic economy. We talked about preparing for the next pandemic. What do we do about scarcity of let’s say – rather the prices of food, of fertilizer, energy? What are we going to do about it? What can we do about it? How do we get around it? What… can be done to alleviate some of the difficulties that everybody is going through?” he said.

Marcos said he also had the opportunity to present the country’s position on pressing international concerns, including the South China Sea, the Russia-Ukraine war, the crisis in the Taiwan Strait and North Korea’s missile tests.

“And of course, on the geopolitical side, the same concerns also, about number one, North Korea and the missile test. The Taiwan Strait – what is going to happen there – needs to be more stable and the effects of the Russian-Ukraine conflict in Southeast Asia,” the Chief Executive said.

He said like the Philippines, other countries are also hit by rising prices of commodities, such as oil and food.

“So you can tell that our situations are very similar. However, a ray of hope is that everyone seems to agree also that the driver of the coming economy for the next year, maybe two… can still come from here (Southeast Asia),” he said.

“If we do all the things that we’re supposed to do, if we put all the structural elements in place, we can go back to the pre-pandemic situation where the main driver of the global economy was Southeast Asia,” Marcos said.

No bilateral deals

Asked whether the country was able to enter into agreements during his bilateral meetings with some heads of state, Marcos stressed it was not the objective of his discussions with them.

“That’s not the purpose of the bilateral (meetings). In my case, because I’m the new kid in town, right, so it’s to meet people and say, introduce yourself, you know,” the President said.

Marcos had bilateral meetings with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“In these meetings, we discussed how we can deepen cooperation in key areas and exchanged views on important regional and global issues,” Marcos pointed out.

He said the bilateral meetings served as an opportunity for both sides to bring up any subject that they both feel matters for their countries.

“So, in terms of the bilaterals, you don’t really come away from the bilaterals with an agreement or all that. It’s just getting insights first. What’s really the problem? What do you want? What do I want? What can we do together? What are the things that we cannot do? All of that. That’s really what the bilaterals are for,” Marcos said.

The President likewise had brief conversations with Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the summit.

Cambodian food

Asked by reporters whether he tried local dishes and what he liked most, the Chief Executive said, “I liked it all. I’m afraid I’m a little bit, I’m an enthusiastic experimental when it comes to food.”

He said First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos even asked her staff to take a photo of the menu during the gala dinner on Saturday so as to get some ideas that can be useful when it’s time for the Philippines to host state dinners.

“When the day comes that we have to host something like ASEAN, we have something to look at,” he said.

Marcos, in an interview on the presidential plane on Nov. 9 en route to Phnom Penh, said this was his first time to visit Cambodia and he liked to try their street food.

The President also said he was not able to get enough sleep and eat properly due to long hours of meetings, while he also had to take care of things back home.

“So you don’t really go straight to sleep. You don’t really eat properly. But you know, it has to be done. It’s OK. I mean, you know. Nobody died from honest hard work,” he said when asked whether he was able to rest in Cambodia amid his hectic schedule.