Marcos will attend F1 Grand Prix in Singapore, Palace confirms

Malacanang confirmed on Friday that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will attend the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend. During a press briefing in Singapore, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said while Marcos will be present, his attendance will be mainly for work. “Transactions are better at face-to-face meetings through such events,” said Castro in Filipino, reiterating her earlier statement that it is important for government officials to meet outside of conferences. “They won't just be watching. There will be a lot more discussion,” she added. Castro earlier said that if Marcos attends, “it should be okay if it were held on a Sunday.” The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier confirmed that Marcos was invited by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to attend the Formula 1 event for “informal engagements” with government officials and business leaders. During his talk at the 24th Forbes Global CEO Conference on Thursday, Marcos described his scheduled attendance at the Grand Prix as a “happy coincidence.” “All of these, the Forbes CEO, all of these meetings that I'm having happened... Because what's happened with the Singapore F1, it's become such an event that all these other events are scheduled around it because so many people come,” said Marcos. He also said that prior to...