Marcos to finally visit UAE

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos can finally fly to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next week, but only for a one-day working visit with an entourage trimmed “to the barest minimum,” according to the Presidential Communication Office (PCO).

The President was supposed to go to Dubai last December for the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

But the visit was canceled at the last minute after 17 Filipino seafarers were abducted in the Red Sea and held hostage by Houthi rebels.

READ: Marcos says 143 Filipinos pardoned by UAE

His visit to UAE next week was initially planned as a four-day working visit, but the President decided to immediately fly back to Manila to “resume his personal supervision and inspection of the relief and reconstruction activities in communities devastated by six successive typhoons.”

Marcos is expected to meet with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the emir of Abu Dhabi, in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 26.

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The PCO described Marcos’ brief visit as having a “lean party but a high purpose” and was in compliance with the President’s order to observe austerity measures for their Christmas celebrations.  —Julie M. Aurelio