President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday congratulated new Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in a telephone call, expressing his hope to work with the neighboring nation’s new leader particularly as the Southeast Asian region tackles various challenges.
“I just wanted to be—to immediately—to be one of the first to congratulate you because I’m very happy to hear the news. I was very happy to hear the news and I wanted to congratulate you immediately myself,” Mr. Marcos said in a press briefing.
“I am sure this will make Malaysia and the Philippines even closer because we will be in touch with one another,” the President added.
On his Twitter account, Anwar thanked Mr. Marcos for the call, saying:
“As founding fathers of ASEAN, our two nations have always enjoyed strong cooperation in bilateral, regional and multilateral forums.”
During the call, the prime minister said Malaysia wants the Philippines’ commitment for collaboration in different areas such as trade and investment, considering the two nations’ “great tradition” in the past.
The President said a strong partnership between the Philippines andMalaysia is important because of all the problems the two nations are facing.
“We have to really work together, otherwise, we will not able to get over this crisis of the inflation, of the agricultural commodities, all of that,” he told Anwar.
“I saw your statement that the economy will be your first priority.
And I found myself in the same position. So, we can—I think we can help each other, Malaysia and the Philippines,” Mr. Marcos said.
The President also told the Malaysian leader they have some commonality: they both “waited for a very, very long time” to get into the top position.
In response, Anwar said some in his social media team learned from the President’s expertise and strategy.
Anwar was sworn in as Malaysia’s 10th Prime Minister Thursday, vowing to fight corruption and revive the Malaysian economy.
Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, the king of Malaysia, named Anwar as the Southeast Asian nation’s leader after seeing him clenching the majority support.
Former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada also congratulated the long-time Malaysian opposition leader.
In a letter, Estrada said he was happy for Anwar, who had served as Malaysia’s deputy prime minister when he was the Philippine president before he was unceremoniously ousted from Malacanang in 2001 due to corruption issues.
“My friend, I wish you all the blessings of Allah as you fulfill your destiny,” Estrada told Anwar.
“I know all too well the long and difficult times you endured over the years before achieving this milestone in your career and I’m truly excited for the future of Malaysia under your capable leadership,” he said.
Estrada informed the prime minister that he was now “happily retired from public life and enjoying being a spectator in the political world.”
He also told Anwar that two of his sons—Jinggoy Estrada and JV Ejercito—were recently elected as senators.
“It is my hope,” Estrada said, “that my eldest son Jinggoy, who is serving in the Senate, will have access to your wise counsel should he need it.”
