Marcos to have at least 10 bilateral meetings in Belgium - DFA

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is expected to have at least 10 bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the ASEAN-EU Commemorative Summit in Brussels, Belgium next week, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday.

Marcos will be leaving for Belgium on Sunday evening to attend the summit slated for December 14.

“This will be a very busy trip for the President and we hope that this will redound to a lot of benefits for the Filipino people not only for ASEAN,” DFA Assistant Secretary Daniel Espiritu said at a Palace press briefing.

“We also expect to hold around 10 bilateral meetings,” he added. 

Representatives from Belgium, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Finland, the Netherlands, and the European Union will meet with Marcos, he said.

Marcos will speak on several occasions during the summit.

"He’s one of the leaders of ASEAN-EU who will deliver the opening remarks. After that, he will be giving an omnibus intervention as head of... the Republic of the Philippines," Espiritu said.

"Then after that at the closing ceremony he is also expected to be one of the officials who will give the closing remarks," he added.

Espiritu said Marcos would join some ASEAN and EU officials in a press conference.

According to Espiritu, the President will also meet with the Filipino community in Belgium as well as business leaders to help generate jobs and investments in the Philippines.

Espiritu earlier said the summit could be an instrument to tackle the ASEAN-EU free trade agreement, which has been stalled for years.

According to him, it has to be ensured that the agreement would be advantageous to the ASEAN member states, especially the Philippines.

"Ongoing iyong negotiations. But at this point, may mga issues between the two sides na medyo pending pa so nakatengga iyan. In fact, the last we heard was that ASEAN already made its comments on the latest draft. So kumbaga iyong papel ngayon nasa court na ng EU. So, we are waiting for their response on this one," he said.

South China Sea

Espiritu said that the territorial dispute in the South China Sea would also be tackled during the summit. 

"Well, at this point the European [Union] has already been supporting the Philippines on the South China Sea including sa arbitral award. And this is not only true in terms of European Union as a whole but may mga individual members who have supported us even sa arbitral award but of course continued iyong pag-carry ng Philippine government noong mga position natin diyan sa ASEAN, and sa pakikipagtalakayan with EU sa relations natin," he said. 

When asked if the President would like to request any commitments from the EU, such as maritime patrols in the vital sea lane, Espiritu replied, "Iyong aktuwal patrol siguro, medyo malaki kasi iyong EU, malayo tayo. But enough na iyon, ang lakas ng pronouncements nila paulit-ulit in support of the Philippines on the issue."

"Ia-arrange mo pa iyong actual patrol; we are not discounting that but of course malaking undertaking iyan kung sakali. Wala naman sa cards iyan, so far,” he added. 

Marcos will be accompanied by DFA and Department of Trade and Industry officials during the trip, according to Espiritu.

Also part of the delegation are Senior Deputy Speaker and former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Department of Information Communications and Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy and Senator Mark Villar.

Shortly after assuming the presidency in June, Marcos was invited by the EU to visit its headquarters in Brussels to discuss foreign policy issues and bilateral relations.

The Philippines and the EU signed the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which provided an “enhanced legal framework," enabling both parties “to strengthen their bilateral relationship, in particular on political, social, and economic matters."

The ASEAN and EU are celebrating 45 years of dialogue relations this 2022. — VBL, GMA Integrated News