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Marcos assured of Spain's priority support for PH, BARMM

Philippines | National

Marcos assured of Spain's priority support for PH, BARMM

By Joseph Pedrajas

The government of Spain has listed the Philippines as its priority country in giving institutional support, which includes taking various initiatives to ensure long-term peace in Mindanao.

This came as Spanish President Pedro Sanchez Perez-Castejon sat down with President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. for their first bilateral talk at the sidelines of ASEAN-EU Summit in Belgium on Wednesday night.

Perez-Castejon said the Philippines "is the only Asian country" that is "listed as a priority country in the masterplan for Spanish cooperation."

"The Spanish cooperation in Muslim Mindanao... especially this region, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, where we try to provide institutional support and strengthen the dialogue," he added.

Marcos responded by recalling his work in the Senate when he was still a lawmaker. He hoped to create an autonomous political entity to end the decades of conflict and poverty in the southern Philippines.

"I was a senator, and we were forming the new autonomous region, and of the places I went to seek advice was your experience in Catalonia, and I learned... we learned very much," the President said.

The most important lesson he learned, he said, was to make sure that the curriculum in the autonomous region schools is the same as the rest

"Because if you teach different things to those kids, then they think we’re not the same as the rest of the Philippines... and we took to that lesson very closely, and it was good advice," Marcos added.

In the meeting, the two leaders agreed to strengthen Philippine-Spain relations, especially with the "very strong and historic ties" between the two countries.

Related Tags

Bongbong Marcos Spain Belgium asean-eu summit bilateral talk Pedro Sanchez Perez-Castejon Philippines

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