Human rights, food security discussed with Marcos, German envoy says

Human rights was among the topics discussed by President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and German Ambassador to the Philippines Anke Reiffenstuel during the latter's courtesy call on Tuesday morning. 

Speaking to reporters, Reiffenstuel said both countries committed to protecting human rights and ensuring the rule of law. She was asked about the fund European nations, including Germany, have been allegedly giving to progressive groups.

"We discussed our commitment. We exchanged about our commitment about Germany's continued commitment in the area of protecting human rights and safeguarding rule of law," Reiffenstuel said.

"We didn't go into details of projects and project funding. As one example of Germany's commitment, I mentioned Germany's funding of the joint program on human rights," she added.

When it comes to the maritime sector, Reiffenstuel said she and Marcos discussed their interest in protecting the sector through enforcing the rule of law.

"We exchange and we explore this our joint interest, our common interest in protecting international rules based order and the rule of law that needs to be implied also in the maritime sector. We didn't go into details but we realized that we have common interest to continue cooperation," she said.

The two also talked about global food security which has been greatly affected by the war between Russia and Ukraine.

"We also exchanged about the priority of President-elect Marcos with regard to food security and I informed him about the upcoming international ministerial conference on global food security..." she said.

Earlier, Albay Representative Joey Salceda said Marcos should have clear programs in addressing the country's woes when it comes to food security.

In an interview on May 26, Marcos said he would fix the value chain to lower the price of rice. The value chain is the series of stages involved in producing a product or service that is sold to consumers, with each state adding to the value of the product or service.

Marcos also said he asked traders to freeze prices of rice.

Trade relations and renewable energy sources were also discussed, according to the German envoy.

Aside from the German ambassador, Ambassador Jorge Moragas of Spain and Ambassador Mohammed Ride El Fassi of Morocco also paid courtesy calls on Marcos. — RSJ, GMA News