Bongbong Marcos welcomes Temasek programs on climate change mitigation, food security

FILE PHOTO: President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. Photo by RAY ZAMBRANO

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday welcomed the programs proposed by Singapore’s Temasek Foundation as the government looks to mitigate the impacts of climate change and boost food security in the Philippines.

“We’re looking at some of the prospective projects that are directed towards climate change, towards agriculture, and sustainability,” Marcos told Temasek Foundation Board members, as quoted by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) in a press release, during a meeting at the Malacañan Palace.

“So anyway, I’m happy that you’re able to come to the  Philippines, and I’m happy to be able to see that there are potential areas where we can participate [in],” he added.

A Temasek official informed the President that he had “very good discussions” with Department of Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr., Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, and Migrant Workers Secretary Toots Ople on collaborations in the future.

In the last three days, the unnamed Temasek official said, they had discussed with the three high-ranking government officials “how to make ourselves useful in the Philippines and also to learn from the Philippines.”

According to the PCO, the Singapore delegation is led by Temasek Foundation chair Jennie Chua Kheng Yeng.

Among the meeting attendees in Malacañang were Singaporean Ambassador to the Philippines Gerard Ho Wei Hong, Temasek board members Tony Tan Caktiong, Goh Yong Siang, Arich Rachmat, and Senior Directors Gerald Yeo Teng Han and James Chan Yong Kiat.

The Temasek Foundation is a Singapore-based non-profit philanthropic organization that funds and supports programs that aim to build the capabilities of communities in Asia and beyond through philanthropic endowments gifted by Temasek.1 It is an arm of Singapore’s state sovereign fund, Temasek Holdings.

The PCO said the foundation forged agreements with the Philippines to enhance competencies across industries through the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) (Digitalization and Industry 4.0) Program, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) with Design Thinking Program, and Health Care Management Program.

The Philippines and Singapore were also looking to renew a 2019 memorandum of understanding between the Philippines’ Department of Education and Nanyang Polytechnic International Temasek Foundation, the PCO added.

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