Palace: Marcos upholds ‘friend to all, enemy to none’ policy in 1st 100 days

Malacañang on Saturday touted the accomplishments of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in strengthening the country’s ties with its partners in his first 100 days in office.

In a Twitter post, the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) said that Marcos, during the period, “upheld his ‘friend to all, enemy to none’ stance and strengthened his ties with heads of state in the ASEAN and international community to ensure the security and development of the country.”

The OPS listed the leaders that the President met within his first 100 days, namely:

• US President Joe Biden
• Indonesia President Joko Widodo
• Singapore President Halimah Yacob
• France President Emmanuel Macron
• Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe
• Vietnam Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan
• China Vice President Wang Qishan
• Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
• Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
• Niue Premier Dalton Emani Makamau Tagelagi
• Thailand Deputy Prime Minister Don Pramudwinai
• China Foreign Minister Wang Yi
• Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister H.H. Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
• US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman
• Australia Governor-General David Hurley

Marcos, at the 77th UN General Assembly in September, reiterated that the Philippines “shall continue to be a friend to all, and an enemy of none.”

The Marcos administration also signed bilateral agreements with Indonesia and Singapore, according to a news report by the Philippine News Agency posted on the OPS website.

Among the signed agreements were:

• Plan of Action with Indonesia
• Agreement with Indonesia on Cooperative Activities in the Field of Defense and Security (DSCA)
• Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cultural Cooperation between the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia
• MOU for Cooperation in the Development and Promotion of the Creative Economy with Indonesia
• Arrangement concerning the Assignment of a Team to the Regional Counter-Terrorism Information Facility (CTIF)
• MOU between the Bases Conversion and Development Authority and Enterprise Singapore
• MOU on digital cooperation between the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the Ministry of Communications and Information of Singapore
• Joint Communiqué on the recruitment of Filipino healthcare workers with Singapore
• Renewal of MOU with Singapore on Cooperation in Personal Data Protection
• Renewal of MOU between Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System and Public Utilities Board
• The signing of the Principles and Guidelines on the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf Boundary between the Philippines and Indonesia
• MOU on the Employment of Filipino Nurses with Alberta, Canada.

Marcos also said that his administration managed to find the “best and brightest” officials to help and serve in the government during his first 100 days as president. — DVM, GMA News