President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged Brunei to “keep working together” with its Association of Southeast Asian peers and the BIMP (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines)-East ASEAN Growth Area to bring “peace and stability” to the Indo-Pacific amid the changing geopolitical landscape.

Speaking at the state banquet hosted by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Marcos said that having good relations with the neighboring regions would help keep the Indo-Pacific area peaceful.

Marcos didn’t mention specific problems in the Indo-Pacific in his speech, but his administration has been opposing China’s illegal intrusions into the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

Strong bilateral relations

“It is important that we continue to work together on a bilateral basis, also together with ASEAN, with BIMP-EAGA in all of these methods by which we can plan together for our communities, for the peace and the stability of the region and not only for Asia but for the Indo-Pacific as well,” Marcos said.

“It is important that those partnerships now be brought back into the modern world and I look forward to this state visit to once more give added impetus and warmth and inspiration to the relationship between our two countries,” Marcos added.

Marcos was on a two-day state visit as of Wednesday, coinciding with the 40th year of diplomatic relations between Brunei and the Philippines that was forged on 1 January 1984.