Marcos in Australia on private visit, says envoy
MANILA: President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr is in Australia on a private visit, and no official arrangements or special accommodation have been made.
Australian ambassador to the Philippines Steven Robinson confirmed this, adding that the embassy had no details of the visit aside from those stated in the visa requirements, online portal Philstar.com reported
The trip is “in no way official, no way formal” and no meeting was arranged between Marcos Jr and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, he said.
“It was a private trip initiated by the presumptive president. He’s on a private trip. As far as I’m aware, there’s no accommodation sorted. We never had any part in there,” Robinson said when met at his residence in Makati City.
“Beyond getting visas to get to Australia, the presumptive president’s trip is no way official, no way formal, so good luck to him, everyone should visit Australia,” he added.
The Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday reported that Marcos Jr made a trip to Australia, in Melbourne to be exact, where his youngest son Vincent is said to enrol at the University of Melbourne.
Meanwhile, Robinson said the Philippines and Australia were set to elevate their bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership at the “end of the year”.
“What they did in August 2021 was to set up a pretty ambitious programme, which talked about
the areas of development that were involved in, peace building, economic recovery, trade, security cooperation and the like.
“And what that has resulted in is that we’re going to elevate our bilateral relationship to what’s called a strategic partnership,” Robinson said at the same reception with the media at his residence.
“It means we’re going to do more and more together. That’s very significant, the way in which we regard the Philippines as a close partner. And so I’m really pleased that we’re going to get to that at the end of this year,” he added.
The partnership between the Philippines and Australia has continued to grow with the bilateral relationship centred on development, education, defence, people-to-people links and trade and investment, Robinson said.