President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Wednesday challenged those questioning his foreign trips to look at his schedule to know his activities.
In a press conference with the Philippine media on the sidelines of his three-day visit to Germany, President Marcos said he always has a packed work schedule in his foreign trips contrary to some allegations that he is just sightseeing or “making pasyal” in his trips abroad.
“Ito ‘yung schedule ko. San ‘yung pasyal? This is my schedule for today,” President Marcos told reporters while raising his schedule on his trip to Germany.
“Where’s the pasyal? Wala, you know, kasama kayo diyan, kasama niyo kami. We don’t make pasyal. Even in the places that I know where I have spent a lot of time with, hindi ko na napupuntahan ‘yung mga dati kong pinupuntahan because we’re here to do this,” he told members of the media.
President Marcos has secured billions of investment deals and various agreements from different countries during his previous foreign trips this year.
In his visit to Viet Nam last January, President Marcos was able to secure VinGroup Company’s commitment to invest in the Philippines particularly in electric vehicle (EV) battery production, which is significant to the government’s modernization of public transportation.
The President also reaffirmed the Philippine government’s commitment for business opportunity exploration, exchange of technology and capacity-building collaboration with Viet Nam, aiming to uplift the welfare of Filipino workers in various industries.
President Marcos also highlighted the Philippine-Australia’s strong maritime partnership on the South China Sea issue during his visit to Canberra, Australia in February this year, where he also addressed the Australian Parliament.
He also secured 12 business agreements amounting USD 1.53 billion, or PhP86 billion worth of investments covering diverse sectors such as renewable energy, clean technology, and recycling solutions, housing, IT-BPM infrastructure, medical devices, and digital health services in his visit to Melbourne, Australia.
He met with Australian business leaders and also launched the expansion of the Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT), a subsidiary of the International Container Terminal Services Incorporated (ICTSI) in the Philippines on the sidelines of his participation to the 50th ASEAN-Australia Special Summit.
Records from the Department of Trade and Investment (DTI) also showed that President Marcos’ foreign trips have resulted in USD 72.2 billion in investments at different stages, comprising 148 projects as of December 2023.
Of the figure, 46 projects involving USD14.2 billion (20 percent of total pledges) have already been actualized, meaning it was already operating and/or have completed the process of registering the project with DTI’s Investment Promotion Agencies or have commenced implementation.
These investments span various sectors, such as manufacturing, IT-BPM, renewable energy, infrastructure, transport and logistics, agriculture, and retail. | PND
