President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr.
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday headed to Washington, D.C. for the historic trilateral summit with United States President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The President left Villamor Airbase in Pasay City after addressing his Cabinet Secretaries.
Marcos will be in Washington from April 11 to 13. On top of the joint meeting with Kishida and Biden, Marcos will also meet with the US president in a one-on-one bilateral meeting.
While the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) previously said that the meeting, the first ever of its kind between the three countries, is not targeted towards any country, the government has admitted that the recent disputes in the West Philippine Sea will be discussed.
“The elevation of the Philippine-Japan-US partnership into this trilateral cooperation has the peace, stability, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific at the forefront, which is the basis for this trilateral process,” DFA Acting Deputy Undersecretary Hans Mohaimin Siriban said in a Palace briefing.
The trilateral meeting also comes a few days after the Philippines held joint naval drills with the US, Japan, and Australia in the West Philippine Sea.
All countries have condemned China’s consistent aggression in the disputed waters, which has only grown since Marcos assumed the presidency.