Food security, climate change, and renewable energy were among the topics tackled during the courtesy calls of the ambassadors of Spain, Morocco, and Germany to President-elect Bongbong Marcos on Tuesday, June 7.
Ambassador Jorge Moragas of Spain, Ambassador Mohammed Rida El Fassi of Morocco, and Ambassador Anke Reiffenstuel of Germany were received by Marcos separately during a series of meetings at the BBM headquarters in Mandaluyong City.
In a press briefing after her courtesy call with Marcos, Reiffenstuel said that the two sides discussed enhancing cooperation with each other as well as addressing global challenges including food security and climate change.
“We exchanged (views) about the ongoing bilateral cooperation and the cooperation in the international frame in the multilateral formats, and discussed potentials for furthering cooperation not only on mutual interests but also to address global challenge like climate change,” she said.
The envoy added that she informed the incoming president about the ongoing programs of Germany to help the Philippines in addressing climate change including their €25-million donation for climate change-related projects.
They likewise discussed the priority project of Marcos regarding food security.
“I informed him about the upcoming international ministerial conference on global food security, this is also against the background of the impact of the Russian war against Ukraine with regards to the challenges on global food security,” she noted.
Reiffenstuel also shared their discussions on safeguarding of rule of law and the human rights. “I also underlined the importance Germany attaches to the rule of law and safeguarding human rights, and of our continued commitment to the same."
“In this context that I also mentioned, the German support, contribution and funding of the United Nations joint program on human rights here in the Philippines,” she emphasized.
Reiffenstuel disclosed that they also focused their discussion on renewable energy which is also among Marcos’ campaign promise to provide lower power rates to the people.
“Renewable energies of course are of great importance to us, to Germany, and we exchanged about the experiences and the commitment and the distributions and the shares of renewable energies in our two countries’ power protections,” she added.
Only the lady ambassador faced the media for questions.
Last Monday, Marcos also met separately with ambassadors from Italy and different Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries during which they discussed expanded cooperation between the Philippines and their respective countries.
The ambassadors relayed congratulatory messages of their heads of state on his poll victory and affirmed their interest in improving bilateral and diplomatic relations with the Philippines.