President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said there were no investment pledges from Russia, as the Philippines-Russia relationship is just at its starting point, adding that the visit is not only for the benefit of the country but also of the ASEAN region.

“Well, we are very much at the starting point here. Some of the areas that we now see from the summit that are available to us. This applies not only to the Philippines, but also to other ASEAN countries,” Marcos Jr. said during the Kapihan Forum at Kazan, Russia, on Friday.

“It is not something that immediately springs to mind. But of course, for the Philippines, we always think our biggest trade partners are the United States and Japan, and that’s our natural tendency because of so many years of habit,” he added.

Despite this, he said the Philippines and Russia will move forward as the processes have already started.

“There is no definite agreement that has been signed, but certainly, the number one thing that we have been able to do is to identify sectors that we can further work on and that we can further develop. That, in my opinion, has a very serious potential for development, not only for trade but for people-to-people, cultural exchanges, all these things, just like what all countries do,” he said.

Even in the area of energy cooperation, the President said no firm pacts were made, “but merely an understanding that we will continue to develop what we had already started in as a response to the oil crisis that was the effect of the war in the Middle East, which we are hoping will come to an end soon.”

“Nonetheless, even if the war does come to an end, we, the Philippines, will continue to look for so-called non-traditional partners in terms of the supply of petroleum products. And I can say that President Putin, the Russian Federation's government, was very open to any kind of suggestion that we do increase that engagement and that we look further into supplying – getting our supplies of petroleum products from Russia,” he explained.

Further, he said the Philippines has not sealed a fuel sourcing deal with the Russian government, as it is yet to be decided.

“There are many complications to that. It is not that simple to sign a trade agreement. There are, of course, political considerations--geopolitical considerations. But when two parties are determined to make it work, I'm always very confident that it will work and we will find a way around those challenges and those complications so that we make it a reality,” he stated.

At the height of the US-Iran war, which shut down the Strait of Hormuz, it can be recalled that the Department of Energy and state-run Philippine National Oil Company engaged in supply talks with Russian oil firms to purchase crude and fuel products.

Areas of cooperation

The President said there are a lot of areas for cooperation between Russia and the Philippines, noting that the Philippines’ trade levels with Russia are now up to $0.5 billion, as revealed by Russian President Putin.

“But it is still far. There's so much potential, there are so many things that we can still do,” he said.

Marcos said the Philippines has already changed its perspective, shedding from the

bipolar power arrangement, such as alignment with the United States.

“Because there are two aspects to it. One is what we are already doing in terms of agriculture, petroleum – energy supply, food costs, among others. Beyond that, there are other sectors available that we didn't talk about before. We talked a great deal about nuclear energy. We talked a great deal about space technology. We talked a great deal about AI. So, many, many areas have become available to us that did not exist before,” he said.

24 jailed OFWs coming home

 

Despite the zero investment pledges, President Marcos announced that the Russian trip resulted in bringing home 24 overseas Filipino workers who were held in a detention center for nine months.

Marcos narrated that he had a deal with President Putin for some sort of arrangement to find a solution for their problem, as the 24 OFWs are not facing charges but are jailed.

“But of course, we respect the law of Russia. But if there’s a way, sana magawan natin. And ginawan na ng paraan. I remember the last thing he said last night, after we were talking about it, was, “Don't worry, we will find a way. We will find a way to fix this problem.” And now, the 24 Filipinos will be released,” he said.

Marcos said the Filipinos are already scheduled for deportation on 19 June, “back to their families.”