House Speaker Martin Romualdez said that no less than World Economic Forum (WEF) Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab told him that President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. would be among the "best persons" to attend the organization's upcoming event in January 2023.
This is because the world looks to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for hope and example amid the economic ravages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Romualdez said.
"Even the noted professor of the World Economic Forum, he's the executive director, si Klausc Schwab called my attention and said that President Marcos would be one of the best persons to be at the World Economic Forum, for they look at ASEAN as the bright star in the world's economy," Romualdez told House reporters Tuesday, Nov. 15 during in a press briefing at the Daniel Romualdez Hall.
"That would be a very very positive region," Romualdez said of the ASEAN, of which the Philippines is a founding member.
"And within the ASEAN, they see not just President Marcos as a very popular, but he sees now, they saw the numbers eh," the House leader said, referring to the Philippines' 7.6 percent gross domestic product (GDP) during the third quarter of 2022.
"So parang ito magiging model (So this will sort of become the model), and sign of hope, parang beacon of hope that at the end of the pandemic--hopefully we're at the endemic stage--countries like the Philippines will be leading the charge forward," Romualdez said.
The Leyte 1st district representative accompanied Marcos to the just-concluded 40th and 41st ASEAN Summit and related summits in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was there where Schwab invited Marcos to attend the WEF event in Davos, Switzerland in January.
Romualdez was the one who arranged the meeting between Marcos and Schwab on the sidelines of the summit.