President Marcos bid his farewell to outgoing Italian Ambassador to Manila Marco Clemente, who is retiring from his diplomatic role.
"Every time we lose a friend, all ambassadors after a while, we always feel we have made a friendship with [them] and every time we lose that friendship to somewhere else, so, it’s a little sad," Marcos said.
"But we are happy for the time that you were able to spend here," he added.
Marcos cited Italy's importance to the Philippines as he noted that it is one of the first European countries with a large immigrant population from the Philippines who work as overseas workers.
Clemente expressed his gratitude to Marcos, the Philippine government and the Filipino people for their warm welcome during his three-year stay in the country.
He said he left an indelible mark in the Philippines as he chose to retire in the country, which is unusual for some diplomats.
“But, I did something which for me was a sign of love for this country. I did something, which is very unusual for my colleagues," he said.
"I decided to end a career here. Normally, people go back to the ministry to stay there for some months,” he added.
Clemente arrived in Manila on August 28, 2021 to assume his post as Ambassador of the Italian Republic to the Philippines. His tenure came during the 75th anniversary celebration of the establishment of Philippine-Italy diplomatic relations in 2022.