A Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official said Wednesday that the wrong positioning of Philippine flag during the bilateral meeting between President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the sidelines of the ASEAN Summits in Jakarta was an honest mistake.
“It was an honest mistake that had nothing to do with our protocol officers,” DFA Undersecretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro said.
The clarification came as the Philippine flag was placed in an inverted position: red band on the top, blue band was on the bottom, which is only used when the country is at war.
But there was one more clarification that Lazaro would want to add.
“The battle of the socks continues,” she said, as both leaders flaunted their colorful socks—which they also did during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in November 2022.