President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. left for Jakarta Saturday afternoon to attend the inauguration of Indonesia’s incoming leaders, President-elect Prabowo Subianto and Vice President-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka today.
Malacañang said the visit was at the invitation of outgoing Indonesian President Joko Widodo and marked the continuation of the two nations’ diplomatic ties, whose 75th anniversary will be celebrated this year.
“The President will be back in the country Monday dawn,” Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Cesar Chavez said.
The Philippines and Indonesia, both founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), have long-standing bilateral relations.
Mr. Marcos made his first international trip as president to Indonesia in 2022, while Widodo visited the Philippines in early 2024, highlighting the strong relationship between the two nations.
Widodo leaves office Sunday with high approval ratings thanks to strong economic growth, but his successor Prabowo has bigger ambitions, including an eye-catching $28 billion free meal plan for students.
While Indonesia regularly enjoys about five percent annual expansion, the former general has pledged to capitalize on his predecessor’s policies to reach eight percent by tapping the nation’s huge human resources.
“From prosperity, we can bring justice to all Indonesian people. We must unite to eliminate poverty and eliminate hunger, and eliminate suffering from our people,” Prabowo said in his victory speech in March.
To do that, he is banking on big national projects, the archipelago’s vast natural resources and attempts to lower a poverty rate of more than nine percent.
He has pledged to largely carry on the popular economic program of Widodo, better known as Jokowi, but he has also signalled a more direct attempt to alleviate poverty in the nation of around 280 million.
His big campaign pledge is a $28 billion plan to supply tens of millions of schoolchildren and pregnant women nationwide with free meals.
He says the scheme – to be rolled out in January – will halt stunted growth in a country where more than a fifth of children up to five years old are affected and create several million more jobs.
His agenda will also focus on agriculture, observers say, with a food estate program aimed at achieving food self-sufficiency, land clearing for bioethanol projects in the restive eastern region of Papua, and a green fund selling carbon emission credits.
At the same time, Prabowo is inheriting Jokowi’s legacy project – a $32 billion move of the capital from traffic-clogged and sinking Jakarta to Nusantara, a planned green city in eastern Borneo where construction is under way.
The city will not be ready until 2045, but its rapid construction is already eating into state coffers.
Prabowo has pledged to continue the project despite speculation he would put it on hold or keep Jakarta as the capital. With AFP
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Marcos flies to Indonesia for inauguration of new leaders.”
