We have built stronger ties with old friends and forged new partnerships with nations that share our hopes for peace, prosperity, and progress.

Together, we signed important bilateral agreements — on trade, defense, agriculture, climate action, digital economy, maritime cooperation, and labor deployment.

I stood before the Australian Parliament — the first Filipino president to do so — and made it clear: the Philippines will always stand for peace, for partnership, and for the rules that keep our region safe.

When I met with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, I brought with me the voices of thousands of our OFWs who had been waiting for years. I asked not for promises, but for justice. Today, that justice is being fulfilled—₱29 billion in unpaid salaries are finally being returned to our modern-day heroes.

In the United Arab Emirates, I appealed for mercy and compassion. The result: 363 Filipinos were granted royal pardon. Many of them have now come home—free, forgiven, and reunited with their loved ones. 

I made sure to meet with our kababayans on many trips I made abroad. I listened to their stories, their hopes, and their dreams for their children. And I promised them that their government will always have their back.

At home, I welcomed heads of state who traveled here — some for the first time in decades — reaffirming the Philippines’ growing role in shaping a safer, more connected, and more prosperous region.

For the first time, the Philippines stood shoulder to shoulder with two of the world’s leading democracies — the United States and Japan — in a historic trilateral summit.

As we host ASEAN under the theme “Navigating Our Future, Together,” the Philippines leads with purpose and principle. We are steering regional cooperation toward economic resilience, digital transformation, and lasting stability in the Indo-Pacific.