BEIJING, China —Filipinos here are disappointed over not being able to meet President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. during his visit but understand why the President had to skip the gathering.

Philippine Ambassador to China Jaime FlorCruz said that the Filipino community understands why Marcos had to skip the meeting, which is a usual part of his foreign trips, due to the Covid situation in the country and the duration of the President's visit.

"Siyempre disappointed din sila at kahit papano sana ay makibahagi sila sa bisitang ito pero espesyal po itong sitwasyon natin, naintindihan naman nila (Of course, they are disappointed because they were hoping to be part of the visit but this is a special situation, and they understand)," FlorCruz said on Wednesday, Jan. 4.

"Una maikli lang ang bisita. Ikalawa, maraming protocols na kailangang sundin lalo na health protocols kaya naintindihan naman po ng ating komunidad dito (First, the visit is just short. Second, there are a lot of protocols that need to be followed, especially health protocols so they understand)," he added.

The ambassador added that the Filipino community know that they will still have more opportunities to meet the President in his future visit here.

While big gatherings are still not allowed in the China capital as experts expect the trend of cases to further peak and spread in other places, the Filipino communities here are back to their normal daily life.

He said they are constantly advised to observe health protocols, including staying at home if they have Covid-19 symptoms and not go the hospitals unless necessary or experiencing severe symptoms.

"Anecdotally lang sa nakita ko kahapon, at saka sa istorya ng aking mga kaibigan dito na nakatira sa Beijing, foreigner and Chinese, mukhang wala namang lockdown, nakakalabas na sila, nakakapunta sa restaurant pero hindi katulad pa rin dati (Anecdotally, from what I have seen yesterday, and based on the stories of our friends living here in Beijing, foreigner and Chinese, it looks like there is no lockdown, they can already go outside, to the restaurant but still not like before)," FlorCruz said.

"Sabi ng mga eksperto, sa mga malalaking siyudad gaya ng Beijing, Shanghai, nag-peak na dito. Siguro, at least, flat and then, pababa (Experts say that in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, the cases have peaked. Perhaps, at least flat and then down trend)," FlorCruz added.

The current situation in China, FlorCruz said, will eventually normalize and the Filipino community here are "doing okay."

There are currently about 14,000 Filipinos in China, 6,000 of them are in Beijing.