Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Charles Brown urged newly inaugurated President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to make good on his campaign promises during the traditional Vin D’Honneur (wine of honor) at the National Museum of Fine Arts on Thursday.
Brown told Marcos Jr. to make use of his government experience in overcoming challenges that would arise in his administration.
“There will certainly be challenges as there are for every administration. But, Mr. President, you bring to the presidency an extensive experience of many years in governmental service and your call for unity has resonated deeply and widely with the Filipino people,” Brown said.
“For these reasons, you begin your term as president with a strong note of hope and confidence in the future. May God bless that future and make it fruitful for the good nation,” he added.
Brown, who is the dean of the diplomatic corps in the Philippines, and Marcos Jr. shared a toast with other diplomats.
The papal nuncio assured the new Philippine head of state that foreign diplomats would cooperate and collaborate with Marcos Jr.’s administration to help it achieve its goals.
“The Filipino people have placed their trust and their hopes in you — their hopes for a future that is prosperous, safe, equitable, and just,” he said.
“I know that I speak for all the diplomats gathered here with you this afternoon when I say that we, too, in the international community harbor the same hopes for your presidency and for your nation,” he added.
In his brief speech, Marcos Jr. underscored the importance of strengthening and cultivating relationships with other countries.
“The transformation of the world economy and recovery from the pandemic will be dependent on our partners and our allies. And it will be those partnerships that will strengthen that recovery, that will make a more balanced and stable new global environment for us to work in,” Marcos Jr. said.
Pope Francis congratulated Marcos Jr. a day before the president’s inauguration.
“I send you my congratulations and cordial good wishes to Your Excellency as you begin your mandate as President of the Republic,” the Pope said in a message relayed to Marcos Jr. by Brown.
“In assuring you of my prayers that you will be sustained in wisdom and strength, I invoke Almighty God’s blessing of peace and prosperity upon the nation,” he added.
Brown also assured Marcos of the “collaboration and the support of the Catholic Church as he takes on the weighty responsibility of his office.”
The diplomatic corps is a conjoint body of foreign diplomats commissioned to a particular country.
They include accredited heads of mission (ambassadors, high commissioners, nuncios, and others) who represent their countries in another state or country.
Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., was sworn in as the 17th president of the Philippines after his landslide victory in the May 9 elections.
The former senator and congressman took his oath of office before Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo at noon on Thursday, June 30, at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Manila.
Marcos Jr. won the 2022 presidential race after getting over 31.1 million votes for the first presidential election via majority. Sara Duterte-Carpio, Marcos Jr.’s running mate and daughter of newly stepped down president Rodrigo Duterte, also won the elections in a landslide with more than 32.2 million votes.
