BANGKOK, Thailand— We have to be in the same lifeboat.
This was what President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. told New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on advancing their goal towards peace in the Asia Pacific region.
Marcos raised the need to strengthen efforts to achieve peace, which, he said, is "past, present and future consideration of our initiatives" in the region during his bilateral meeting with Ardern on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on Saturday, Nov. 19.
"Because it is a multilateral partnership so that’s what I think. Let's make that very, very strong, and as long as we look after the region, Asia-Pacific, we look after our interest, I really think we could weather the storm and beyond that. We cannot just set aside the effort to make the economy vibrant again," Marcos said.
The President added: "I think we can do both. But you cannot do anything if there is no peace, and that is just the basic... If that becomes a critical issue in the sense that we are all on high alert for war, everything stops, everything stops. And here we go again.”
"We have to be in this lifeboat together and keep at it together - that's my view," Marcos further said.
Collab with farmers
Marcos disclosed that New Zealand is keen on collaborating with Filipino farmers in a bid to increase sustainability and productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.
Marcos and Jacinda also agreed to strengthen further their partnership in trade which has grown "at a steady pace."
"Our trade, our connection, has been growing at a steady pace. And we want perhaps after things open up even more and come back to what we all considered to be normal, it would increase. The population of the Philippines is growing, and the continuing need to trade," Marcos told Ardern.
"I think that once again the best solution is just have strong partnerships. You can have slightly different positions within that - but you are members of a political aggrupation and economic aggrupation, there's strength in numbers," Marcos stressed.
OFWs welfare
Both leaders also expressed readiness to empower Filipino migrant workers and enhance the capacity to respond to their needs.
"Most people don’t find great opportunity. But that’s what happened, and we go where the work is. The diaspora has really become a significant part of our culture,” Marcos said.