President Jokowi Meets Philippine President Bongbong Marcos At Malaca Palace

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo visited Malaca Palace in Manila, Philippines, to meet President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in order to strengthen a number of cooperation between the two countries.

President Jokowi's presence and his entourage were greeted directly by President Marcos Jr. or known as Bongbong Marcos along with the national anthem of the two countries that was played.

After that, the two State Leaders conducted inspections of the honorary forces, as well as introduced delegates from each country.

Indonesian delegates are Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko, Member of the Advisory Council President Gandi Sulistyanto, Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines Agus Widjojo, Director General of Asia Pacific and Africa Abdul Kadir Jailani, and Southeast Asia Director Mirza Nurhidayat.

Meanwhile, delegates from the Philippines who attended included Foreign Minister Enrique A. Manalo, Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, National Defense Minister Gilbert Teodoro, Minister of Trade and Industry Alfredo E. Pascual, Transport Minister Jaime Bautista, Minister of Energy Raphael P. M. Lotilla, and Presidential Advisor to Peace of Carlito G. Galvez Jr.

Furthermore, President Jokowi and President Marcos Jr. conducted ate-a-tetemyang followed by bilateral meetings between the two countries.

President Jokowi thanked President Marcos Jr. for his warm welcome and conveyed the important meaning of visit to the Philippines for Indonesia.

"Thank you for the warm welcome. The Philippines is the first country I visited this year to celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations and strengthen cooperation between the two countries," he said as quoted by ANTARA from the release of the Presidential Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia, Wednesday, January 10.

In this meeting, the two countries also exchanged memorandums of understanding (MoU) in the energy sector.

"I welcome the signing of the MoU for Cooperation in the Energy Sector and thank you for the support of the Philippines for the Chairmanship of Indonesia in ASEAN last year," said President Jokowi.

After delivering a joint press statement, President Jokowi then attended the official lunch held by President Marcos Jr. The event also ended a series of official welcoming ceremonies.