MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos yesterday sought support for the Philippines’ bid for a seat in the United Nations Security Council and emphasized the importance of a rules-based international order during a New Year reception attended by diplomats, including the ambassador of China.
In his toast at the traditional vin d’honneur at Malacañang, Marcos said the Philippines’ candidature for a non-permanent security council seat for the 2027-2028 term stands on its “rich experience” in building peace, forging consensus and finding new pacts for cooperation.
“With a long history and a credible record of multilateral diplomacy, the Philippines is in a very strong position to take on more leadership roles that seek to advocate on consequential issues in the global agenda. One such important issue is peace and security,” the President said.
“Our candidature is consistent with our long-held view that we need to further strengthen multilateralism efforts that will reform the Security Council and revitalize the general sentiment,” he added.
Marcos cited the Philippines’ deployment of 14,000 troops to 21 UN peacekeeping operations and special political missions over the past 60 years.
“I take this opportunity anew to convey to your respective governments our earnest request for your support to our UN SC bid and we hope for your support when the time comes that we are indeed sitting as a member of the UN Security Council,” the Chief Executive said.
In the same remarks, Marcos reiterated that the Philippines continues to encourage adherence to the rule of law, a concept mentioned consistently in the country’s statements on the South China Sea dispute.
“Our foreign policy has always been to encourage peace and to foster cooperation while also ensuring that international law is faithfully complied with and permeates all facets of relations amongst nations. For it is only through a rules-based international order that peace and development can be achieved,” Marcos told attendees of the formal reception, including Chinese envoy Huang Xilian.
China continues to commit aggressive actions in the South China Sea to assert its maritime claim, which was voided by an international arbitral court in 2016.
Marcos also trumpeted the Philippines’ economic accomplishments and vowed to undertake measures that would make the country more conducive to investments.
He said the country’s economy remains among the strongest in Asia, growing by 5.8 percent in the first three quarters of last year and “outstripping” the performance of some of its peers in the region.
He added that the revenue collection for 2024 was about P4.42 trillion, accounting for 16.7 percent of gross domestic product and the highest in the last 27 years.
The Philippines, Marcos noted, also scored the highest in debt transparency among 50 countries surveyed by the Institute of International Finance in 2024.
“The year 2024 also earned the Philippines its first-ever credit rating upgrade of A-minus with a stable outlook from Rating and Investment Information Inc. and an upgrade of outlook to positive from S&P global ratings, making the country more attractive to investors and helping to lower borrowing costs for government and for businesses,” the President said.
Marcos also mentioned the lower unemployment rate, which has fallen to to 4.0 percent, well below the full-year target rates of 4.4 to 4.7 percent.
“We owe this to the sustained strength of the country’s labor market. I certainly hope that this trend will continue as it signals that there are more employment opportunities in the country,” he said.
“My dream remains that to be able to say that one day we can say that overseas work is a matter of choice and not one of necessity.”
Marcos expressed confidence that the Philippines would achieve this year the gross national income per capita rate set by the World Bank for the country to attain upper-middle-income status.