Departure Statement by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for His State Visit to the Kingdom of Cambodia

Thank you, Secretary Luc Bersa –

[Oh, Please – please be seated.]

Luc Bersamin and all the members of the Cabinet here. I hope, lumamig na ‘yung mga ulo ninyo. But I will have to just say that I perfectly understand why you are feeling a little unjustly beleaguered.

The Pasay City Lone District Representative Antonino Calixto; and the AFP Chief of Staff Romeo Brawner Jr.
and the Major Service Commanders; Acting PNP Chief
Police Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr.; Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan; Pasay City Mayor Imelda Calixto-Rubiano; and of course, our first lady, First lady Liza Araneta-Marcos; friends in the media; ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.

At the invitation of His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni, I will be embarking on a State Visit to Cambodia today.

This visit builds on Prime Minister Hun Manet’s visit to Manila in February earlier this year.

We have seen dynamism in the partnership between the Philippines and Cambodia across key sectors. These sectors include defense and security, trade, agriculture, heritage preservation, among others.

So, during my visit, I will discuss ways to further diversify our cooperation and strengthen our intra-ASEAN relationships and exchanges by capitalizing on our complementary strengths in the face of global economic headwinds.

To this end, we will discuss expanding our commercial relations and building more resilient value chains.

Through intensified defense and security cooperation with Cambodia, we hope to uphold a peaceful, stable, and resilient ASEAN community.

The historic friendship between our peoples dates back centuries, even prior to the formal establishment of our diplomatic relations in 1957.

The connections between Filipinos and Cambodians remain vibrant and mutually beneficial to this day.

In the Kingdom of Wonder that is Cambodia, we have around 7,500 Filipinos that are there on the spirit of friendship and camaraderie from the Pearl of the Orient, and contribute meaningfully to the growth and development of Cambodian society.

As a reflection of our two countries’ commitment to mutual growth, our countries have likewise engaged in South-South cooperation through the scholarships given to Cambodian students by the Philippine Government in our higher education institutions, specifically in the field of science and technology.

The Philippines has been a resolute partner of Cambodia in addressing both traditional and non-traditional security challenges confronting our region, such as transnational crimes.

As the Philippines prepares to take the helm of ASEAN in 2026, my visit will reinforce the importance of ASEAN Centrality and our commitment to build a progressive and inclusive region.

I look forward to all of these very productive meetings that we have scheduled and I am sure that we will find many, many ways that we can develop to be beneficial to both our countries, Cambodia and the Philippines.

Maraming, maraming salamat po!

Magandang hapon sa inyong lahat.

[applause]

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