President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will travel to Brazil next year after holding bilateral talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Philippine News Agency reported.
Lula announced the planned visit during a press briefing at the World Trade Center Metro Manila in Pasay City on Sunday, stating that the Philippine leader will make the trip next year. The announcement followed meetings between the two delegations at the Philippine International Convention Center on Saturday; it is the first visit by a sitting Brazilian president and coincides with the 80th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
The discussions yielded two memoranda of understanding covering agricultural cooperation and competition law enforcement. Lula said that Brazil aims to expand trade and avoid dependence on a single market, citing growth from three billion in 2003 to 38 billion reais by 2026.
Data from Brazil’s agriculture ministry indicates that meat products such as pork, beef, and chicken make up 86 percent of the total volume of goods imported by Manila from Brasilia, as Inquirer reported.
While the state visit drew agricultural agreements, it also intersected with broader regional demonstrations surrounding the 49th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit. Groups in Mindanao welcomed Lula’s arrival, with Moro Consensus Group chair Drieza Lininding describing him as a leader who stands for international law, human dignity and the oppressed peoples, Inquirer reported.
Lininding brushed aside Trump for his policies that enable “Zionist aggression” against Palestinians and shielding those responsible from accountability.
“As a people who know the pain of historical injustice and displacement, we refuse to let Asean become a platform that sanitizes occupation and war (against a people),” Lininding told the Inquirer.
Human rights lawyer and former Bayan Muna Rep.
At the same time, student groups and organizations voiced opposition to the expected arrival of Donald Trump for the US-ASEAN Special Summit.
“We are holding this walkout because we refuse to remain silent on issues that concern our national sovereignty, economic welfare, and the social well-being of our people,” Asmana Umpat told the Inquirer on Saturday, November 14.
“This is our way of exercising our democratic right to dissent,” Asmana Umpat added.
Away from the summit proceedings, Lula and First Lady Rosângela Lula Da Silva visited the Manila Cathedral on Saturday, praying before the image of Our Lady Aparecida, the patron saint of Brazil, RAPPLER reported.
“It was moving to see such a beloved symbol of faith and devotion of the Brazilian people crossing oceans and being welcomed with such affection so far from our land,” Lula said.
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