PRESIDENT MARCOS: Mr. President, welcome. Welcome to Manila. Welcome to the Philippines, to you and your delegation and I’m happy that after just two months to have you visiting with us again and I thank you for finding time in your — what must be very busy schedule and tour, to find time to be with the Philippines, even for just a little while.
Our bilateral relations are deep and multi-faceted. And I am pleased that we have taken another step in strengthening our security cooperation [ties] with the signing of the MOU on Defense Cooperation by our Defense Ministers last July.
2024 has been a very eventful year for both our countries. We convened the [6th] Informal Consultations on our bilateral Action Plan in February.
Our officials have engaged in very substantive dialogue, which has resulted in the conclusion of several MOUs.
I am pleased that after months of negotiations, the MOU on the Recruitment of Healthcare Workers and the MOU on Collaboration on Carbon Credits Under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement will be exchanged shortly.
I note as well that our respective agencies are actively discussing proposed MOUs in the areas of Health and Maritime Security.
In May, I undertook a working visit to Singapore to deliver the [Keynote] Address [in the] Shangri-La Dialogue, where the Philippines articulated its views on important regional and global developments.
The Philippines remains optimistic in fostering closer and enhanced cooperation with Singapore in existing areas such as defense and security, trade and investment, and new areas such as sustainability and in energy. MOUs in the fields of health and maritime security are already in the pipeline and are anticipated [to be] finalized in the very near future.
There will also be the planned signing of MOUs by Philippine local government units and their Singapore private sector partners, a collaboration of a Philippine national government agency and the Singaporean private sector, and [a] business-to-business [agreement].
Your Excellency, as I conclude my opening remarks, I wish you and all of Singapore a Happy National Day as you celebrated 59 years of independence last week, a celebration which we hope to emulate when we have our national day.
Please…
PRESIDENT THARMAN: Thank you very much, Mr. Marcos Jr. Thank you for your warm hospitality, myself and my delegation. It’s interesting that just two months after your visit, we are now in a position to actually come to agreement to quite a number of things.
The discussions, of course, started before your visit, but you [basically?] provided an impetus for officials to work very hard to conclude several agreements.
And I think that’s the tone of the relationship that we both prefer, that we meet, we have initial discussions, we explore. But the whole idea is that we want to follow up and conclude agreements that are to our mutual benefit.
It’s the 55th year of our diplomatic relations. So, I’m particularly pleased to be able to make the State Visit. In fact, it’s my second State Visit to an ASEAN country. The first was to Brunei very early in the year.
And I was looking forward to this because it’s a warm and long-standing relationship, and one which we feel can be built up further. Both in traditional areas as well as in new areas.
The Defense Ministers, as President Marcos Jr. has highlighted, have just concluded the MOU on Defense Cooperation and beyond that we’re looking now at areas such as healthcare, the environment, several different dimensions of the environment, including Carbon Credits, infrastructure, and other areas.
So, I think we are making fine progress and it’s a phase of our relationship that shouldn’t be business as normal, incremental change after each meeting. But we really want to take it on a new trajectory. Under your leadership, I’m confident we’ll be able to achieve that.
I should say, by the way, that you know, these things do matter. There’s just something very impressive about the performance of FIlipino athletes at the Olympic Games.
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Thank you.
PRESIDENT THARMAN: Mr. Yulo’s two golds is the only athlete from Southeast Asia, from an ASEAN nation who has had two Olympics golds ever [inaudible]. So, it’s a real milestone. It’s a real milestone for all of us. I mean we shine a bit of the reflected glory of the Philippines.
PRESIDENT MARCOS: We had a bit of that just the other night when the — our Olympians came home and came here and that’s what I was telling everyone.
Tonight, it’s not about us. We’re just reflected glory over here and trying to be part of the — of the achievements. We’re very, very proud and we… The welcome that [unclear] gave was really overwhelming. They just had yesterday. They arrived the day before yesterday. They had a big parade through the city because Yulo, who won the two golds, comes from the City of Manila. People think that Manila is the entire — all the different cities and towns that comprise Metro Manila. He comes from the actual City of Manila which is the oldest part of the city.
And I — what was scheduled to have been perhaps a parade to last about an hour and a half, two hours, must have lasted what? Four, because of the so many people here that came out, throwing t-shirts up to be signed. It was splendid. It was a very, very happy day for the entire Philippines.
PRESIDENT THARMAN: That’s the power of sports.
PRESIDENT MARCOS: It was — typical of athletes when we were sitting for dinner. I said: “Well done. Two golds.” “Should have been three.”
I spoke to the golfers. “I missed it! One shot! One shot!” Typical athlete. That’s a great attitude to have. Never mind, I said. You’re all very young. You can still… You’ll compete for many years yet. So, well done and…
It gave everyone a boost. It really did.
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