Pasyal, pasyal until pledges concretized

Pasyal, pasyal until pledges concretized | Daily Tribune

Both the President and his and the nation’s First Lady, Louise “Liza” Araneta-Marcos, are under the weather, says a recent Malacañang bulletin, most probably from exhaustion as a result of their intense schedule, which they could only meet by keeping a feverishly hurried pace.

To recall, the President, accompanied by his wife, went on a state visit to Vietnam at the end of January. This was followed in February by a trip to Canberra, where he addressed the Australian Parliament. From Canberra, he flew back to Manila, then took off again a few days later to attend the ASEAN Summit in Melbourne in early March.

A few days later, on 11 March, the presidential couple flew to Germany for a three-day working visit, then on to Prague, the Czech Republic, for a three-day state visit before finally flying back to Manila, where the President was scheduled to meet with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on 19 March.

This April, the President will fly again to the US, where President Joe Biden will host the Philippines and Japan in an inaugural trilateral summit on 11 April. The three leaders will focus on bolstering trilateral cooperation on inclusive economic growth, emerging technologies, clean energy supply chains, and climate cooperation. Also certain to be discussed are security issues in the Indo-Pacific, focusing on the South China Sea.

Dizzying, yes? For sure, the President has relative youthfulness and the stamina that could flay someone older, including maybe his predecessor who, during his term, had no fondness for globetrotting, it seems, nor was he one to have the kind of diplomatic sociability a country leader needs to be predisposed to engaging with counterparts overseas.

The former chief of state has taken potshots at his successor’s international travels, saying, “Si Marcos, pasyal pasyal na lang (all he does is travel leisurely).”

The President didn’t let that go. Talking to the media on the sidelines of his official activities in Germany, he held up his schedule for everyone to see, saying, “You’ve accompanied me in all those activities; show me where the pasyal is. There’s none.”

A summary of yields resulting from his travels since January this year includes Vietnam’s Vin Group Company’s commitment to invest in the Philippines, particularly in electric vehicle battery production, aligned with the government’s public transportation modernization.

His trip to Melbourne resulted in a dozen business agreements worth US$1.53 billion in diverse sectors, including renewable energy, clean technology and recycling solutions, housing, medical devices, digital health services, and IT-BPM infrastructure.

Department of Trade and Industry reports point to total investment pledges of US$4 billion in the manufacturing, innovation, agriculture, renewable energy, and healthcare sectors made during the president’s trip to Germany.

Investment commitments secured during his trips abroad, including 11 made in 2023, reveal a whopping total of US$72.18 billion or over P4 trillion since he assumed office in mid-2022.

Impressive work, and deserving of all the plaudits that can be heaped his way, provided all the aforesaid commitments are realized in the concrete as soon as possible. They are actually felt especially by parts of the body politic that have long been underserved.

Otherwise, the President’s immediate predecessor’s brickbats that his frequent travels are nothing more than just “pasyal,” that is, sightseeing and gallivanting, are justified.