Fresh from the official state visit of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to China, Philippine Ambassador to China Jaime FlorCruz on Saturday, Jan. 7, expressed confidence that the 14 bilateral agreements signed by the Chief Executive there would bring “tangible projects” and “tangible benefits” to the country.
While he did not specify how China and the Philippines will push through with the agreements, the envoy made the assurance that the pledges during Marcos’ state visit came both from Chinese companies and higher officials of the Asian economic powerhouse.
“Paano po natin ma-assure na mangyayari ‘yung pinapangako? Hindi po madali. Kasi kailangan ng follow through at ‘yun ang importante. ‘Yung mga pledges po, una, ay ang tingin ko nanggagaling sa taas. Hindi lamang ng mga kumpanya, mga Chinese companies na nag-sign (How can we ensure that these pledges will materialize? It is not easy because we need to make a follow through and that’s important. The pledges, first of all, came from the higher-ups, so it's not only the Chinese companies that signed them. This time I can assume that the pledges and memorandums of understanding are sanctioned by higher officials),” the envoy said during the Saturday News Forum.
FlorCruz added the pledges and memorandums of understanding (MOUs) were sanctioned by higher officials, though he did not identify who they were.
“This time po nararamdaman ko na ‘yung mga pledges, ‘yung mga MOUs, ay talagang senyales ng mga opisyal sa taas na (I feel that these pledges, the MOUs, are given the go-signal by higher-ups that) 'this time we deliver, we deliver tangible benefits, tangible projects',” the ambassador furthered.
Marcos was in China from Jan. 3 to 5, wherein he inked 14 bilateral agreements on agriculture, infrastructure, development cooperation, maritime security, and tourism, among others.
FlorCruz said the bilateral deals were aligned with the goals and needs of the government.