President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is likely to meet with at least six heads of state during his scheduled trip to the United States, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said on Friday.
Romualdez revealed that Mr. Marcos, who is set to leave for New York this Sunday, will likely meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
“Well, we have the Prime Minister of Japan, we’ve been able to put a fix on that one, and then the Malaysian Prime Minister it’s also the other. And I think the President of the EU is also expected to have a bilateral meeting with President Marcos,” Romualdez said in an interview on CNN Philippines.
“I think there are two others that are awaiting confirmation, so he’ll probably have at least six to eight meetings with heads of state,” the envoy added.
The President is expected to deliver a message to the 77th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and speak before an economic briefing during his stay in the US.
Mr. Marcos will tackle food security, climate change, and rule of law in his speech before the UN. According to Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Kira Christianne Danganan-Azucena, he will deliver the Philippine national statement “at the high-level general debate of the opening.”
Romualdez admitted there are also “requests” for meetings with heads of state from Latin America and Africa.
“We’re still waiting for a word on that one. Like I said, there are a lot of moving parts in these meetings,” the ambassador said.
When asked about Mr. Marcos’ possible meeting with US President Joe Biden, Romualdez said it is still uncertain.
“As I told you, schedules for these bilateral meetings, this is really something that cannot be confirmed but it will only start as we get closer. We all know the sad news about Queen Elizabeth’s passing and so President Biden has already said that he’ll be going to London, so that kind of changed a lot of schedules,” Romualdez said.
But Romualdez mentioned that Biden would host a reception for all heads of state who will be attending the United Nations General Assembly.
“One thing for sure is that President Biden is hosting all the heads of state in New York for a reception, so definitely they will be meeting there. But of course, we are looking at an opportunity for them to sit down and have a longer discussion on our relationship,” he said.
“I think it’s been moved from the 20th to the 21st (of September) but again that’s being confirmed by the White House.
This reception is something that’s traditional… the President of the United States usually gives a reception for all the heads of state that are attending the United Nations,” he added.