As the government continues to deal with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. asked Filipino ambassadors to continue looking for "non-traditional" partners in trade, security, and defense to benefit the country.

President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Malacañang photo)

Marcos said this in a meeting with newly appointed ambassadors and chiefs of mission in Malacañang on Wednesday, June 7.

In his remarks, the President stressed that the Philippines must cope with the changing times to not be left behind in the so-called "pandemic economy."

"We are constantly now-- after all the changes that have been imposed upon us, like the pandemic economy and the world situation-- looking for what we sometimes referred to as non-traditional partners in trades, in any kind, in security and defense issues," he said.

However, Marcos maintained that his administration should stay neutral regarding foreign policy.

"We do not subscribe to any notion of a bipolar world," he said.

"We only side, of course, to the Philippines, not to the US, not to Beijing, not to Moscow. That's very much being independent in what we do," he added.

The Chief Executive also urged the envoys to explore and discuss with him opportunities that might be substantially beneficial to the country and Filipinos. He was referring to opportunities in agriculture, digitalization, energy, and infrastructure development.

"Now, if there are opportunities that would come up, you should explore them, and if they're promising enough, then we'll take it up. We'll try to see if something can come up," Marcos said.

There’s no harm in trying and kung anuman ang mangyari, at least we tried,” he added.

Those who attended the meeting were Chief of Mission Carlos Deymek Sorreta, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland; Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Henry Sicad Bensurto Jr. (Republic of Turkiye), Renato Pedro Oabel Villa (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Raul Salavarria Hernandez (Sultanate of Oman), Paul Raymund Pasion Cortez (Portuguese Republic), Josel Francisco Ignacio (Republic of India), and Maria Angela Abrera Ponce (Malaysia).