The Manila Times

US ‘eager’ for Marcos visit – envoy

PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was invited to Washington by United States President Joe Biden, Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez said.

Romualdez said US Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff handed Marcos a personal letter from Biden.

Emhoff, husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris, led the seven-member delegation from Washington that attended the inauguration of Marcos at the National Museum Manila on Thursday.

They later met in Malacañang along with officials of the US Embassy in Manila.

“In that letter of course, he [Biden] congratulated the President and said that he hoped to be able to speak to him again by phone sometime soon. But also, invited him to come to Washington when both their schedules would allow. So it is really an open invitation for President Marcos to come to the White House,” Romualdez said.

He said the US “is very eager to have President Marcos come” but it may take “a couple of months” before it materializes as Marcos would need to prioritize domestic issues.

“And then also, it was suggested that he would travel to the Asean countries which is also part of our diplomatic efforts to introduce him formally to many of his important allies,” he said.

Asked how Marcos will deal with diplomatic challenges, especially involving civil societies protesting against issues surrounding his family, Romualdez said the President will focus on “talking about the future” instead of the past.

“I’m very confident that he will do well because he is highly motivated. His motivation is based on the fact that he had an overwhelming mandate of 31 million people voting for him and secondly, very clearly, is because of his name. He will definitely prove himself to be worthy of being the President of the Republic of the Philippines,” he said.

Meanwhile, Romualdez confirmed that Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio will go to the US ahead of the United Nations General Assembly on September 20.

“Before that, there is something to do with education which of course the Vice President is very much interested in because of her position also as Secretary of Education,” he said.

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2022-07-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-07-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://digitaledition.manilatimes.net/article/281762747954181

The Manila Times