President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. extended his congratulations to Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto for his significant lead over his rivals in the presidential elections in Indonesia.
“My warmest congratulations to Defense Minister @prabowo on his commanding lead in the latest electoral count to be Indonesia’s next President,” President Marcos said on his official X [formerly Twitter] account.
President Marcos said the Philippine government is looking forward to deepening the bilateral ties between the Philippines and Indonesia, calling the latter the country’s close neighbor and partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The chief executive also noted that the Philippines and Indonesia are celebrating 75 years of diplomatic relations this year, having been officially established on November 24, 1949.
The 73-year-old Prabowo is a former military special forces commander. He is leading against his rivals Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo based on the independent pollsters conducting the count in the presidential elections in Indonesia.
World leaders have also congratulated Prabowo after he took a big lead in the presidential polls.
OFW party-list Representative Marissa Magsino on Sunday meanwhile urged Subianto to look into the case of Overseas Filipino Worker Mary Jane Veloso, who was convicted and sentenced to death for drug trafficking in 2010.
“To the new leader of Indonesia, I hope you can listen, I hope you learn what is on the other side, the reason, the real incident, the facts about Mary Jane so that she will not carry the burden of proving her innocence alone and carry the punishment alone, which I also hope can be worked out,” she said in a statement.
In January, Veloso’s family sent letters to then-Indonesian President Joko Widodo and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to appeal her clemency.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “Marcos wishes Indonesia well under new leaders”
