Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. Luis “LRay” Villafuerte has commended President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for his participation in the 40th and 41st Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) Summits in Cambodia, saying that the latter "had done well".
READ: https://mb.com.ph/2022/11/09/pbbm-leaves-for-cambodia-for-asean-summits/
“President Marcos’s description of his official visit to Phnom Penh as a ‘very successful’ one was right on the nose as he had done well, in his initial attendance at Southeast Asia’s annual summit, in putting forward our country’s unequivocal position on the indispensability of regional consensus behind thorny issues that impact on ASEAN, such as an early resolution of the conflict in Myanmar, support for the One-China Policy while pushing a peaceful settlement of the conflict between China and Taiwan, seeking better partnership with the US (United States) against transnational crime and with India on the supply of cheaper medicines and vaccines, and keeping the South China Sea as an area of peace, stability and prosperity rather than of geopolitical strife,” Villafuerte said on Thursday, Nov. 17.
The National Unity Party (NUP) president highlighted Marcos’s achievements in placing a spotlight on the issues of the Philippines such as food security, prosperity, and maritime security.
“Mr. Marcos had turned the international spotlight on a broad range of issues that affect the Philippines and the rest of the region such as attaining food security towards self-sufficiency and ensuring prosperity and maritime security, as well as on those that impact on the whole world like climate justice and an end to nuclearization and geopolitical discords,” Villafuerte continued.
The Bicolano also lauded Marcos for presenting the Philippine economy in an enticing manner, describing the commander-in-chief as a country’s “No.1 overseas salesman".
“The President had made use of the Cambodia trip as a four-day opportunity to tell the world that the Philippine economy is on the mend—and on track to meet the government’s growth target of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent for the whole of 2022,” Villafuerte said.
He also pointed out the Philippine leader's effort to advance the interests of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Cambodia and all across the world during the Summit.
Marcos met with the Filipino Community in Cambodia and pledged to resolve the tie-ups between the Departments of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and of Migrant Workers (DMW).
“And even as the President turned the spotlight on the global and regional concerns of the Philippines during his most recent foreign trip, he had taken time to advance the interests of overseas Filipinos by thanking at least two countries—Canada and Japan—that currently host hundreds of thousands of Filipinos,” Villafuerte explained.
According to the solon, there are 5,000, 900,000, and 250,000 OFWs in Cambodia, Canada, and Japan, respectively.