VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD, attended the inauguration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr as the President of the Philippines at the Manila National Museum on Thursday.

Mahfud, as the special envoy of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, congratulated the new president and relayed greetings from Widodo.

"Earlier, I conveyed greetings and congratulations from President Joko Widodo to President Marcos. We hope that relations between the Philippines and Indonesia will improve and cooperation between the two countries will strengthen," Mahfud said in a press statement after attending the inauguration.

Upon his arrival in the Philippines, he was welcomed by the Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines, Agus Widjojo, and officials from the Philippines Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

President Marcos Jr, who succeeds President Duterte, will be the 17th President of the Philippines and will serve a six-year term.

Marcos Jr, whose father also served as Philippine President , officially began his term at noon on June 30, 2022.

The Philippines Congress last month proclaimed his landslide victory, as well as that of his running mate Sara Duterte, the daughter of the outgoing president, in the vice-presidential race.

Marcos Jr received more than 31 million votes and Sara Duterte more than 32 million of the more than 55 million votes cast in the May 9 election.

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan and US Vice President Kamala Harris's husband, Douglas Emhoff, were among the foreign dignitaries who attended the inauguration.  (Antaranews)