President Marcos left for the US Tuesday evening for a three-day visit to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit in San Francisco and to visit Los Angeles and Hawaii.
In his APEC Summit participation, Mr. Marcos is expected to push for a discussion of the ongoing tension in the West Philippine Sea and China’s incursions in the country’s territorial waters.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, the President is also looking forward to pushing for various national agendas, such as clean energy, the healthcare system, digital transformation, food security, and climate change.
The President will also lead a Philippine economic briefing and meetings with top US companies and will meet the Filipino communities in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Honolulu.
Mr. Marcos will also likely have a sideline meeting with US Vice President Kamala Harris, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Romualdez said.
“There is a request from the office of VP Kamala for a sideline meeting with PBBM,” Romualdez said.
He said there are “no plans on this trip” for a pull-aside meeting with US President Joe Biden.
From Los Angeles, Mr. Marcos will fly to Hawaii to visit the US Indo-Pacific Command.
“It adds a layer to the cooperation that we are trying to establish with like-minded states in order to promote what we have been advocating all along – a rules-based order especially in the maritime areas,” said DFA Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and International Economic Relations Charles Jose.
The President will also be visiting the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies for a roundtable discussion, added Jose.
This will be Mr. Marcos’ third trip to the US — first in September 2022 to attend the United Nations General Assembly and the second in May this year for an official visit that included a bilateral meeting with Biden.
Meanwhile, Sabin Aboitiz, president and CEO of the Aboitiz Group and a member of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Philippines, reported on the country’s progress on the Climate Risk Scenarios project.
The Climate Risk Scenarios project is designed to bridge the gap between climate awareness and proactive decision-making.
One of the pivotal features of the project is the establishment of an online platform to facilitate seamless access to climate data.