Singaporean president invites Marcos Jr. to state visit

Singaporean President Halima Yacob invited presumptive president Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to a state visit as he also congratulated the former senator for his impending win in the Eleksyon 2022.

"On behalf of the people of the Republic of Singapore, I warmly congratulate you on your electoral success. Singapore and the Philippines share a warm and long standing relationship, underpinned by strong economic cooperation and robust people-to-people ties," Yacob said in a letter dated May 14.

"I recall fondly the warm and gracious hospitality extended to me by the Filipino people during my State Visit to the Philippines in September 2019. I look forward to working with you to strengthen the friendship between our two countries," he added.

"I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to make a State Visit to Singapore. I wish you every success in steering the Philippines to greater heights," he said.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, for his part, said Marcos' "victory shows the people’s strong support in your leadership and vision for the country."

"The partnership between Singapore and the Republic of the Philippines is deep and longstanding, with close cooperation across many domains, including labor, trade and defense," Lee said.

"As fellow founding members of ASEAN, we share a similar outlook on key regional and global developments, and work closely to promote regional peace and prosperity. I look forward to continuing our close cooperation for the benefit of our countries, peoples and the region," he added.

"I wish you every success. I look forward to meeting you soon," Lee said.

Marcos has garnered more than 31 million votes in the recent polls, with 98.35% electoral returns already processed.—LDF, GMA News