Prabowo raring to meet Marcos

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and presumptive Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto have vowed to strengthen bilateral ties between the Philippines and Indonesia.

In a telephone call on Thursday, Prabowo told Marcos he was looking forward to working with him, saying the two countries “have many common interests.”

“I like to know what you are thinking. I hope to meet you as soon as possible,” the new Indonesian leader told Marcos.

President Marcos, for his part, affirmed that the Philippines and Indonesia had a lot in common in their over 70 years of bilateral ties, which were formally established on 24 November 1949.

“That might be a good idea. Yes, there are many areas (that) opened up. The traditional ties have grown stronger over 70 years. In recent years, President (Joko) Widodo explored many new possibilities. I would be very interested to meet with you to go into some details,” Marcos told Prabowo.

Mr. Marcos also expressed optimism that Prabowo will uphold the relationship forged between his administration and outgoing Indonesian President Joko Widodo, eliciting assurance from the Indonesian leader that he would do so.

Earlier this week, Marcos congratulated Prawobo on his apparent landslide victory in the recent Indonesian elections.

According to unofficial tallies in Indonesia, Prabowo and his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is the eldest son of Widodo, secured nearly 60 percent of the votes.