Marcos leaves for APEC summit
PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. left yesterday for an “important” trip to the United States where he is set to attend the 30th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit 2023 in San Francisco and visit the Indo-Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii.
“I am on my way today (Tuesday), later on today (Tuesday), I’m going to San Francisco, to the United States to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic conference and that is a very important thing that I have to do,” the President said when he addressed the opening of the 1st Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Local Legislative Assembly in Davao City yesterday morning.
Marcos will be out of the country from November 14 to 20 to visit San Francisco and Los Angeles in the United States and Honolulu in Hawaii. Vice President Sara Duterte will head the caretaker committee while the President is abroad.
This will be Marcos’ third visit to the US since becoming president last year and his second this year. He attended the United Nations General Assembly in September last year and had a meeting with American President Joe Biden in Washington in May this year.
His latest trip to the US is upon the invitation of Biden.
The President is set to attend the APEC on November 15 where he will push for the use of clean energy to preserve and protect the environment, continued cooperation in food security, deeper cooperation in health and modernizing health systems, and digital participation of micro-small, medium enterprises.
“I bring with me your hopes and aspirations for a peaceful and prosperous Asia-Pacific region where we live. This year, the U.S. chairmanship of APEC set the cross-cutting themes of sustainability, inclusiveness, and resilience as our priority work so that we can build a resilient and interconnected region that advances broad-based economic prosperity, enable an innovative environment to foster a sustainable future, and affirm an equitable and inclusive future for all. For every single Filipino,’ Marcos said in his departure speech.
He said the APEC theme of “Creating a Sustainable and Resilient Future for All” also aligns with the national and economic interest of the Philippines which strives for a
