Marcos discusses economic cooperation, workers welfare with Canada's Trudeau

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the weekend and discussed possible areas of partnership moving forward, the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) said.

According to the OPS, the two leaders had a bilateral meeting on Sunday, November 13, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia to discuss the “deepening relations” between the two countries.

Economic cooperation and human rights were among the matters discussed.

“I know there’s a tremendous opportunity to work together, and I’m looking forward to doing just that,” Trudeau was quoted as saying in an emailed statement.

“We have some very strong Philippine Canadian members of parliament and members of my team who are very happy that we’re able to launch a new area in our friendship and our partnership and I’m very much looking forward to it,” he added.

Marcos earlier in the weekend said the Philippines continues to be committed to working with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Canada in promoting the rights of migrant workers, and the welfare of women.

Just last month the Philippines and the Province of Alberta, Canada inked an agreement to boost their cooperation regarding the welfare of Filipino nurses.

Last October, Saskatchewan Province announced a two-year plan to hire hundreds of Filipino healthcare workers including registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, continuing care assistants, and medical laboratory assistants.

“They all seem to have become part of the workforce, become part of society. They have found their place and they had been given that place by the Canadians, and for that, they are grateful, and we are grateful,” Marcos said.

“And I think it is—it serves as a very good foundation for whatever else that we feel that we can do together,” he added.

Climate, Paeng

The two leaders also discussed the climate crisis, with Marcos describing the effects of Tropical Storm Paeng on the country.

“It was a very strange one because it was the very first one in our history where every single part of the country was affected by one typhoon,” Marcos told Trudeau, according to the OPS.

“From up in the northern part, the northern island of Luzon, all the way down to the southern part of the Philippines. Everybody felt it and felt it badly." 

Extending his sympathies to the Philippines, Trudeau added that Canada has also experienced its share of extreme weather. "[W]e still have a lot of work, all of us, to do on taking the right action," he said. — DVM/BM, GMA Integrated News