MANILA, Philippines – After promising to travel less in his second year as President – and managing to stay put in the Philippines from February to April, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is set to fly to the United Kingdom to attend the coronation of King Charles on May 6.

His attendance was first confirmed by Teodoro Locsin Jr, the Philippines’ Ambassador to the UK. Charles and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, will be crowned at the Westminster Abbey. This will be the first coronation of a British monarch to happen in the 21st century. Charles’ mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, was crowned in 1953.

In a statement late Monday, April 3, the Presidential Communications Office said: “President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos have accepted the invitation to attend the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty The Queen Consort at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, 6th May, 2023.”

Marcos and the First Lady will also attend the reception in Buckingham Palace on May 5, or the day before the coronation.

Quoting Locsin, ABS-CBN News said Marcos would “leave at once” because he was also attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit. The 42nd ASEAN Summit and its side events are scheduled from May 9 to 11 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

According to the BBC, Charles’ coronation “formalizes the monarch’s role as the head of the Church of England and marks the transfer of their title and powers.”

Guests include the Royal Family, officials from the UK government, other heads of state, and other royals from around the world, according to the BBC.

ABS-CBN quoted Locsin as claiming Charles and Marcos “know each other because they used to play polo together.”

Marcos studied in the UK and exited Oxford University with a “special diploma” in 1978, when his father and namesake, the dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, was still in power.

The President’s three sons, including newbie House leader Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos, studied in the United Kingdom.

Charles earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cambridge in 1970, making him the first heir to the throne with a university degree.

The visit to the UK and Indonesia would be Marcos’ fourth and fifth trips overseas in 2023, and his ninth and 10th since assuming office. (We count the trips according to the number of times he exits the country, not the number of countries visited.)

Marcos is also set to depart for state visit to Paris and the US at least one time in 2023 to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

Marcos has been criticized for his many trips abroad, which he has justified by claiming the Philippines stands to benefit from foreign investments.

While the Marcos administration has repeatedly announced figures related to pledges made during these trips, an actual investment has yet to materialize. – Rappler.com