MANILA — The Philippines and Singapore on Thursday signed agreements to reduce their carbon footprint as well as on the recruitment of Filipino healthcare workers during the visit of Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Shanmugaratnam and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. personally witnessed the exchange of agreements during a short program in Malacanang.

“We have just witnessed the exchange of the [Memorandum] of Understanding for Collaboration on Carbon Credits Under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement between the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the [Republic of the] Philippines and the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Republic of Singapore,” Marcos Jr. said.

“Hopefully, with this memorandum, we will be able to incentivize both industries and individuals to actively work to reduce their carbon footprint, while allowing the government to mobilize financial resources to boost fiscal space.”

Meanwhile, Marcos Jr. said that the  Memorandum of Understanding on the Recruitment of Filipino Healthcare Workers aims to “ensure that a balance is achieved between the needs of the healthcare sector of both countries as well as the need for personal development and growth of our healthcare workers.”

“Through this MOU, we express our confidence in Singapore's legal and judicial system, which will ensure that the rights, welfare, and well-being of our kababayan OFWs will be protected as they pursue their careers in Singapore,” he said.

Marcos said another MOU on Health Cooperation is presently being negotiated by the Health Ministries of both countries

“…So that when the contracts of our OFWs are nearing completion, they will be able to reintegrate into the Philippine economy with ease,” the President said.

“There will also be the planned signing of MOUs by Philippine local government units and their Singapore private sector partners, a collaboration of [a] Philippine national government agency and the Singaporean private sector, and a business-to-business agreement.” 

Aside from bilateral issues, Marcos Jr. said he and Shanmugaratnam also discussed regional issues of mutual interest during their meeting, including the South China Sea issue.

“As geographical neighbors in Southeast Asia, the South China Sea / West Philippine Sea holds great importance to both our countries. So, we look forward to the opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to maintain and to promote peace, security, and stability in the region as well as our strong support [to] the peaceful resolution of any such disputes,” Marcos Jr. said.

“The South China Sea is an extremely important issue. Singapore's position of course is well known we consistently upheld the rights of all states to freedom of navigation and overflight and strongly supported the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law including the 1982 UN Convention of the law of the sea or UNLCOS. That's fundamental. UNCLOS has to be the legal framework within which all the activities in the oceans and seas are carried out,” Shanmugaratnam meanwhile said.

The President said both countries also discussed and shared our concerns on [the] developments in Myanmar, which he says “had undoubtedly affected both Singaporeans and Filipinos alike.”

“We have continued to speak on this in all the ASEAN fora and we have all come to the consensus that a peaceful solution, as prescribed under ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus, is more urgent now than ever before,” he said.