ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Villafuerte not surprised by Marcos' inclusion on 100 most influential people list; here's why

Villafuerte not surprised by Marcos' inclusion on 100 most influential people list; here's why

Published Apr 20, 2024 10:53 am

At A Glance

  • Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte was anything but surprised with President Marcos' latest accolade of being named among TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2024.

20240420_184013.jpgCamarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte (left), President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (Rep. Villafuerte's office, MANILA BULLETIN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte was anything but surprised with President Marcos' latest accolade of being named among TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2024. 

For Villafuerte, TIME Magazine's listing of Marcos is justified given the way that the latter has captured the world's attention. 

“Our President’s success in drawing the world’s attention to, and—more importantly—drumming up international support behind, concerns requiring collective and immediate action such as peace in the Indo-Pacific region amid non-stop Chinese bullying, and climate justice for the most vulnerable economies is no mean feat,” the veteran congressman said. 

“No wonder Mr. Marcos landed this year on TIME’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world,” Villafuerte said. 

“He has earned this eminence with all the feats he has achieved in less than two years on the job in turning the spotlight on matters that affect the Philippines and the rest of the world, and, more crucially, in drumming up increasing global support behind these concerns," noted the staunch administration backer from Bicol. 

Marcos scored a historic majority victory in the May 2022 presidential race. He assumed the Palace seat the following month. 

Villafuerte said that New York-based TIME, which is one of the world’s most authoritative  and reliable magazines, was spot on in explaining that  President Marcos deserves to be in its 2024 list of topmost influencers for elevating the Philippines on the world stage, steadying its post-Covid economy, standing up to Chinese aggression in the contested South China Sea (SCS) and bolstering Manila’s alliance with Washington amid rising tensions in the region and the world.   

TIME specifically included President Marcos among the 24 political leaders on its 2024 list of the 100 most influential personalities in the world.    

Villafuerte said that President Marcos’ initiatives in beefing up our country’s defense capabilities and mobilizing international support behind Manila’s territorial dispute with Beijing in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) culminated in his April 11 trilateral summit in Washington, DC with United States (US) President Joseph Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. 

The summit bolstered the three countries' joint defense and security relations in the Indo-Pacific region. It took place on the heels of the Philippines' joint maritime patrols with the US, Japan, and Australia in the WPS. 

CHECK THIS OUT:

https://mb.com.ph/2024/4/19/pbbm-s-inclusion-in-time-most-influential-people-list-a-remarkable-achievement

 

Also, in an offshoot of the trilateral summit, Villafuerte said that visiting New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon expressed on April 18 his country’s intent to join the multilateral efforts towards a comprehensive maritime security in the region. 

The Bicolano legislator said the President has been proven correct in taking a strong stance on the WPS dispute, as public opinion polls show he has the support of most Filipinos on this national defense matter. 

Alongside selling the Philippines to overseas investors in his foreign visits, Marcos made use of these engagements to advocate climate justice by calling on the world’s richest countries to deliver on their decade-old commitment to extend at least $100 billion yearly for programs that would make climate-vulnerable economies like the Philippines more resilient to the devastating impact of global warming, Villafuerte noted. 

“In so doing, President Marcos has become the champion or spokesman of the world’s most vulnerable economies seeking climate financing or justice from highly industrialized states emitting most of the greenhouse gases (GHG) in the air responsible for worsening planet warming," he said.

Related Tags

Time Magazine lray villafuerte President Marcos
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.