MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is heading back to Washington DC a year since his last visit to the US capital to take part in the first-ever trilateral summit between the Philippines, the United States, and Japan.

This will be his sixth overseas trip in 2024.

Rappler breaks down key details of that trip.

Dates to remember

Marcos is expected leave Manila on Wednesday, April 10. The flight takes around 15 hours, but since Washington is 12 hours behind the Philippine capital, Marcos is expected to arrive there later the same day, local time.

Also on Wednesday, Biden will welcome Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the White House for an official visit and state dinner. On Thursday, April 11, Kishida will deliver a speech before Congress.

Biden will also hold a separate bilateral meeting with Marcos on Thursday to review, as per the White House, “the historic momentum in US-Philippines relations and discuss efforts to expand cooperation on economic security, clean energy, people-to-people ties, and human rights and democracy.”

Later that day, the three leaders will convene for the trilateral summit.

According to Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Acting Deputy Undersecretary Hans Mohaimin Siriban, Marcos will have other meetings on Friday, April 12, before he returns to Manila.

Key agenda

Siriban said the summit seeks to further the partnership among the three countries, putting the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region on top of the agenda.

The trilateral meeting comes as tensions continue to worsen in the South China Sea, amid continued harassment by China – which claims the vast waterway as its own – against Philippine vessels.

The three countries are expected to double down on their commitment to international rules-based order, and affirm their support for the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling won by the Philippines, which invalidated China’s all-encompassing claims to the territorial waters.

Expected outcomes

The three countries will come up with a joint vision statement after the summit.

“This vision statement is intended to be a forward-looking document that not only identifies common principles that guide the trilateral partnership but also provides concrete areas and projects for cooperation,” Siriban said.

“We can expect an alignment of views among the three countries on the recent incidents in the West Philippine Sea,” he added. “We will continue to call for peace and stability, and that the recent incidents be solved in a peaceful and diplomatic manner.” – Rappler.com