Singapore leaders congratulate Bongbong Marcos; president invites him for a state visit

Singapore’s heads of state are the latest world leaders to congratulate presumptive President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. after his apparent landslide win in the May 9 Philippine elections.

In a letter, Singapore President Halimah Yacob congratulated Marcos Jr. on his electoral success and cited Singapore’s “warm and long-standing relationship” with the Philippines, “underpinned by strong economic cooperation and robust people-to-people ties.”

Yacob said that she looked forward to working with Marcos Jr. to “strengthen the friendship between our two countries,” and invited him to a state visit to the Lion City.

“I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to make a State Visit to Singapore. I wish you every success in steering the Philippines to greater heights,” she wrote.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that Marcos’ win showed “the people’s strong support in your leadership and vision for the country.”

“The partnership between Singapore and the Republic of the Philippines is deep and longstanding, with close cooperation across many domains, including labour, trade and defense,” Lee wrote. 

Lee said that as founding members of ASEAN, the Philippines and Singapore “share a similar outlook on key regional and global developments, and work closely to promote regional peace and prosperity,” adding that he looked forward to continuing the countries’ close cooperation “for the benefit of our countries, peoples and the region.”