Marcos accepts more foreign invites

PHNOM PENH – President Marcos will embark on several official foreign trips next year with many heads of state, including his counterparts in Southeast Asia, expressing their interest to talk with the new Philippine leader.

In an interview with the Philippine media delegation here on Sunday night, Marcos said he has accepted the invitations of Vietnam, Brunei and Thailand, among others, for state visits.

“I’ve accepted several state visit invitations. Well, China, as you see, I said. Vietnam, Brunei. Actually all (invitations) because this was the first time they met me, like Thailand. So, they’ve all invited me. And I said, yes. I don’t decline invitations,” he said.

“Maybe next year, we’ll start honoring those invitations,” the President said.

Marcos earlier accepted the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state visit on Jan. 3 to 5 or 6 next year.

The President, however, has yet to decide whether he will participate in the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 16 to 20 next year.

“The other thing is about – the real decision there is really going to be, if we are going to ask people to come to the Philippines, who are going to invest in the Philippines, are we ready for them?” he said.

Marcos was invited by WEF founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab during a breakfast meeting last Saturday on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit.

“Klaus Schwab invited me yesterday that we had a very early meeting and he said we want to hear the story of the Philippines in Davos. So, I am undecided yet. It’s traveling too much. That’s already the end of January. I’m going to China on the third,” the President said.

“Like my mom says, ‘kailan ka nag-oopisina (when are you at the office)?’ Which is – also has a reason. So, I haven’t decided. We’ll see,” Marcos said, referring to his mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos.

Schwab earlier said Marcos’ attendance at the WEF will be a “good opportunity” to let the global business community know about the dynamism and “positive developments” happening in the Philippines in a bid to attract more investors.

Marcos, meanwhile, is set to leave for Bangkok, Thailand on Wednesday to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders’ Meeting on Nov. 16 to 19.

The President is also expected to attend the ASEAN-EU Commemorative Summit in Brussels, Belgium this December.

Marcos made his inaugural state visits to Indonesia and Singapore last September and attended the 77th United Nations General Assembly in New York, also in the same month.

According to reports, Marcos has had the most number of international travels during the first 100 days in office among Philippine presidents since the EDSA revolution that toppled his father, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr.