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PH, Indonesia vow to boost ties

(UPDATES) PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Indonesia's President-elect Prabowo Subianto on Friday vowed to strengthen the alliance between the Philippines and Indonesia.

Prabowo, who was set to take over Joko Widodo as Indonesian president in October, paid Marcos a courtesy visit at Malacañang.

Marcos said Prabowo's visit was indicative of solid relations between the Philippines and Indonesia.

INDONESIAN VISITOR President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. receives a token from Indonesia’s President-elect Prabowo Subianto during a courtesy call at Malacañang on Sept. 20, 2024. PPA POOL

"It is a great pleasure to be able to welcome you, Your Excellency, Mr. President-elect Prabowo, to Manila on your visit as President-elect. And I think it bodes well for our two countries that you have come to visit with the Philippines and shows that the growing relationship between our two countries has been at a very strong level for many, many years," Marcos told Prabowo.

"We are about to celebrate our 75th year of relations this November, and I think your visit here today will certainly bring a new impetus to making that relationship between Indonesia and the Philippines stronger and deeper," he added.

Prabowo said the Philippines and Indonesia share a common heritage.

"We have common roots, cultural, historical, and by the fact that we are very close neighbors, it behooves us, I think, to always support each other and to work together closely in all fields," he said, noting his visit aims to reconfirm his commitment to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

"I would like to thank you for receiving me at short notice. I came here today to pay my respects because exactly one month from now, on the 20th of October, God willing, I will be inaugurated as President of the Republic of Indonesia," Prabowo told Marcos.

"And perhaps it's the Asian way, our custom, before we enter into a new position. We call on our friends and to reconfirm my commitment to strengthen the close relationship that we have traditionally between the Philippines and Indonesia," he added.

Prabowo, a former military general and Indonesia's defense minister, would formally assume the presidency on October 20.