MANILA – Malacañang has officially confirmed the reported virtual meeting between President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., outgoing United States (US) President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
The “trilateral phone call” is scheduled for Sunday, January 12, according to Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cesar Chavez.
The agenda and other information of the said meeting have yet to be revealed as of posting time.
The upcoming meeting follows the trilateral summit held in Washington last year, where the leaders of the US, Japan, and the Philippines discussed a broad range of issues, including security cooperation, infrastructure development, and regional economic resilience.
The three countries also held a multilateral maritime cooperative activity in December last year in a bid to demonstrate joint commitment to safeguarding international waters and ensuring free navigation in the Indo-Pacific region in light of rising tensions in the South China Sea.
In a separate statement, Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said the three leaders will discuss the progress on the trilateral cooperation since the historic leaders’ meeting in April last year.
They are also expected to discuss economic matters as well as regional and global developments, she said. (Joyce Rocamora/PNA)