Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez has expressed optimism President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and US President Joe Biden could set up a separate bilateral meeting in Washington D.C. before November 2022.
Marcos is expected to attend and address the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September 2022 but talks with the US leader on the sidelines are not yet in the works.
“As for the bilateral, we have not yet gotten there because for me, personally, I would like to see President Marcos go to Washington D.C. for a meeting with President Biden and hopefully we can do that sometime before the end of the year, before November, if possible,” he told an interview in Makati.
Romualdez said the possible meeting would depend on the schedule of both leaders, but “the invitation is open-ended,” and would also depend on the US if it wants to make it a state visit.
The Ambassador said Marcos’ UNGA attendance would be significant as this would be his first trip to the west as the 17th Philippine president. He is expected to address the Assembly if he attends it on or about September 20 or 21.
“A lot of people are very interested to hear President Marcos speak, to see him or meet him. Even before the elections, I told him I hope one of the first foreign trips to the western world would be to the UN,” the envoy said.