President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has finally committed to a March visit to Germany after months of delays and adjustments.
The Chief Executive himself made the announcement during the courtesy call of German Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at Malacañang Palace on Thursday.
Marcos said his office had been in touch with the German embassy over the past few months trying to arrange the visit to Germany.
“I think we have finally managed, with your embassy’s staff, we’ve been driving them a little crazy. We kept moving things because things had been coming up,” Marcos told Baerbock.
“But I think we have come down to the 12th of March, the 12 March date. So I can commit to that now,” he said.
Marcos assured Baerbock that “things will develop” after his visit to Berlin.
The last Philippine president to visit Berlin was the late Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, who did so as part of his September 2014 four-country tour of Europe.
Meanwhile, Marcos welcomed Germany’s top diplomat, who is on a visit to Manila from 11 to 12 January at the request of Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo.
Baerbock’s visit marked the first time in more than 10 years that a German Federal Foreign Minister visited the Philippines.
Baerbock told Marcos that she intends to return to Manila in the near future.