Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. arrived in Washington late Wednesday (Apr. 10) ahead of a trilateral summit between him, US President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
According to the Manila Times, Marcos's delegation left the Philippine capital via a chartered private flight and landed at Joint Base Andrews at 20:00 Eastern Time (00:00 UTC Thursday, Apr. 11).
His two-day visit would commence with the historic trilateral summit with Biden and Kishida at the White House on Thursday, and would be followed with a one-on-one meeting with Biden to give updates on the agreements they forged during Marcos's working visit in May last year.
The Philippine president would also meet with various business groups on the same day. He would then end his Washington trip by visiting the Pentagon before departing for Manila.
Filipino media reported that Marcos would particularly underscore the importance of enhancing the economic cooperation of the Philippines with Japan and the US "with a view to promoting economic resilience and security."
Marcos would also raise various regional security issues of mutual concern "while continuing to reiterate the importance of upholding the rule of law and preserving the rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific region," including critical infrastructure, semiconductors, digitalization, and cybersecurity.
Prior to his arrival, Philippine Navy chief VAdm. Toribio Adaci Jr. and other Filipino defense staff met with their American and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of the US Pacific Fleet change-of-command ceremony at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Apr. 5.
