Toast Speech By President Tharman Shanmugaratnam At The State Banquet Hosted By President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. At Malacañang Palace On 15 August 2024

Your Excellency President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr.

President of the Republic of the Philippines

First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos

Distinguished guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

1.  My wife and I, together with my delegation, are happy to be here in the Philippines.

2.  The Philippines is a land blessed with many treasures. From lush rice fields and a richness of biodiversity, to pristine white sand beaches and sparkling blue seas, to this gleaming metropolis. But its greatest treasure is its people and their effervescent spirit.

3.  I would like to thank President Marcos Jr. and the First Lady for inviting us to visit, and for your warm and generous hospitality. 

4.  At our Joint Press Conference, President Marcos Jr. and I had spoken about the enduring friendship between our countries, as we celebrate the 55^th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year. It is an exciting, forward-looking and mutually beneficial relationship.

5.  Ours is a relationship that has been carefully nurtured over the years, by successive generations of leaders from both sides.

6.  It was my pleasure to present President Marcos Jr. with a pot of gold-plated Dendrobium Ferdinand Louise Marcos, a unique orchid hybrid, which was specially cultivated to celebrate his and the First Lady’s State Visit to Singapore in September 2022. So we got an original Dendrobium Ferdinand Louise Marcos and plated it in gold.

7.  The Dendrobium Ferdinand Louise Marcos is a robust, free-flowering orchid hybrid that produces semi-arching inflorescences of 50 to 70 cm in length, each bearing 20 to 30 flowers. It showcases the indomitable spirit and resilience of the Philippine people, and their approach to embracing challenges head on.

8.  The original violet, lavender and bluish mauve hues of the orchid hybrid reflect the warm and longstanding friendship between our peoples. 

9.  I would like to thank President Marcos Jr too for the precious gift of the waling-waling orchid. This is indigenous to the Philippines, and is a large and exceptionally beautiful orchid. I can see why it has been referred to as the “Queen of Philippine Orchids”, and the special place that it holds in the hearts of the Philippine people.

10.  The unyielding spirit of the Philippine people was on full display at the Paris Olympics, with the country’s exceptional showing of two gold medals and two bronze medals. Many in Singapore, including the 200,000 plus- strong Filipino community there, cheered on Philippine gymnast Carlos Yulo as he became the first Filipino to win a pair of Olympic gold medals, and indeed the first from an athlete from an ASEAN nation. A number of athletes of Filipino heritage, representing other countries at the Olympics, also did very well in a variety of events, including fencing, gymnastics, and tennis.

11.  Our athletes admire and celebrate each other’s achievements. The Philippines has a much larger talent pool in sports, and has traditionally excelled in boxing, gymnastics and weightlifting. Singapore is making good progress in sports such as badminton, table tennis, swimming, athletics and bowling.

12.  And tonight, as we celebrate the 55^th anniversary of diplomatic relations, I look forward to welcoming another Philippine eagle to Singapore. The male eagle that we are waiting expectantly for, will join a female Philippine eagle at Mandai Bird Paradise, to establish a breeding pack symbolising our shared commitment to conservation and biodiversity protection. The loan of the pair of eagles commemorated our 50^th anniversary five years ago, and so we look forward to adding another for our 55^th.

13. The burgeoning linkages between Singapore and the Philippines are an asset for us bilaterally, and also offer a strong foundation in the region as it progresses towards deeper ASEAN integration. I am confident that the partnership between Singapore and the Philippines will not only endure, but become stronger and livelier in the decades to come. And the Memorandum of Understanding which we have concluded today, and those that are also being concluded over the course of the next day, are testimonies to that desire to strengthen and grow the relationship between our two countries.

14.  Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, may I now invite you to join me in a toast:

    1.  To the good health and success of President Marcos Jr. and First Lady Araneta-Marcos;

    2.  To the continued peace, progress, and prosperity of the Philippines;

    3.  To the enduring friendship between Singapore and the Philippines.  

Mabuhay!