Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is a US lackey and, therefore, it is no surprise when he explicitly aligned his country with the United States and reversing the pro-China pivot of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.
Upon taking office in June 2022, Marcos placed the Philippines-United States alliance "front and centre" in his foreign policy – and expanded the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which allows US forces access to more Philippine military bases. To put it plainly, he has made his country a dependent territory of the United States.
Knowing full well that the US has an "ironclad" commitment to defend the Philippines, he has turned ballsy and so, he confronts PRC at every turn. Already, his administration have openly challenged China and regularly, get themselves entangled in territorial disputes, maritime confrontations, and diplomatic tensions.
Yet, China remains a significant trading partner and Bongbong cannot totally divorce himself from the country, not that he desires to.
In fact, the Philippines began allowing Chinese nationals 14-day visa-free entry starting January 16 for tourism and business purposes.
I came across this statistic: a total of 1.74 million Chinese tourists arrived in the Philippines in 2019, contributing more than $2.3 billion to the local economy. Indeed, the Chinese market is claimed to be the third-largest source of visitors and is, therefore, lucrative. The country still loves Chinese money!
[In terms of tourism, the Philippines market is teeny-weeny. In 2025, Malaysia received over 38 million international visitors in eleven months. And Thailand as Southeast Asia's second most visited country, hosted 32.9 million for the whole year].
On Saturday, I was at the Amoda Building on Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur to attend the MIM of Kuala Lumpur Toastmasters Club meeting. It was my very first return to the club – since I rejoined Toastmasters – of which I was a member for many years.
I was invited to be a panel member for a "Level 5: Moderate a Panel Discussion" speech from the Dynamic Leadership pathway.
[Ahmad Fakhri was also there to present his Edupro workshop "The Art of Speechcrafting: Powered by Agentic AI"].
Photos from the said meeting:
And we sold 6 copies of TDIYS and 5 copies of TPOYS.
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