Romualdez confirms Marcos’ invitation to China’s first couple to visit PH

Speaker Martin Romualdez. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. apparently extended an invitation to China’s first couple to visit the Philippines, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said on Friday.

Romualdez, in a statement, said that Marcos did invite Chinese president Xi Jinping and his wife, First Lady Peng Liyuan, to reciprocate the warm welcome he got during the President’s recently-concluded state visit.

READ: Marcos Jr. invites Xi Jinping to visit the Philippines 

Marcos visited China from January 3 to 5, and Romualdez was one of the government officials part of his delegation.

“After this state visit, our President invited President Xi Jinping and his wife, First Lady, First Lady Peng Liyuan, to come to the Philippines,” Romualdez said.

According to the House Speaker, the President’s first cousin, the two First Ladies, showed “chemistry” when they met during Marcos’ visit.

Romualdez also said that the visit was successful due to the several engagements that Marcos and the delegation had.

“You can see that there was chemistry right from the start,” Romualdez said.

“The state visit was highly successful because there were many engagements at different levels. For instance, we had our first meeting with the standing Chairman of the National People’s Congress (of China), almost my equivalent,” he added.

During the visit, Romualdez said that China’s National People’s Congress also seeks to have more engagements with the counterparts from the Philippines — the Senate and the House — especially since the planned activities in the previous years were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“So, their parliamentary system lends itself to these interparliamentary exchanges, which were basically reiterated. So, upon the instruction of our President, we shall engage our counterparts at the Parliament, at our Senate and Congress level,” he said.

“We have many, many areas of agreement, so we want further to strengthen that by direct engagement at the various levels,” he added.

READ: Romualdez says China’s NPC wants more high-level talks with PH Congress in 2023 

Marcos said his state visit to China was successful, as they were able to sign significant deals — including 14 agreements that would boost cooperation in tourism, technology, infrastructure, and energy.

There was also a sign that the two sides are ready to resume talks about oil exploration in disputed regions across the country.

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JPV/abc