Cebu Mayor Michael Ramu at the Eastern Economic Forum. Photo Alexander Ryumin/TASS
The first foreign delegations at this year’s Eastern Economic Forum were the Philippines. The “zero” day of the EEF 2023 had just begun, not all journalists had yet arrived at the main area of the forum, which traditionally takes place on the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University on the Russian island, and the impressive delegation of The island state was already walking from stand to stand and did not fail, of course, take a look at the Komsomolskaya Pravda studio.
Michael Lopez Rama, mayor of Cebu, the second largest city in the Philippines, immediately demonstrated that he had learned a thing or two in just a couple of days in Vladivostok. “Good morning, good afternoon, good evening,” he said in near-perfect Russian, greeting us with anticipation for all our upcoming forum meetings. “Buntag Maayong!” (they say you won’t get sick either) – the well-prepared editorial team responded in Cebuano. The guests smiled. That’s why they understood it.
A year ago, Cebu and Vladivostok signed an agreement of mutual friendship and Michael Rama personally decided to come to the capital of Primorye to see his colleague Konstantin Shestakov. The day before they discussed urgent issues of cooperation, of which the most interesting is the possibility of opening direct flights between Vladivostok and Cebu. However, politicians prefer not to give specific dates for now.
“I can only assure you that we will not stop on this path.” We are constantly working on this topic and I am the first person interested in this. We would like to welcome all Russian tourists, but we must follow all the steps first. We have something to show the Russians, our historical heritage (Cebu is the oldest city in the Philippines, visited by Ferdinand Magellan, roughly “KP”), our love of art. But first of all, we will show our hospitality, our people. Personal communication between person and person is the most important thing. That’s why I’m here today. Communicate with people and learn something new.
The Philippine Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Russia has an unusual name for Asia. His name is Igor Baylen. This intrigue has an interesting clue.
– My mother was a big fan of Russian classical music. And she named me Igor in honor of the outstanding Russian composer Igor Stravinsky and the main character of the opera “Prince Igor” Alexander Borodin, ”said Mr. Ambassador. – And, of course, I would very much like more Filipinos to get acquainted with the wonderful Russian culture. I think we have enormous potential for cooperation here. Little by little we are beginning to implement it. The Moscow delegation in Manila this year had an amazing performance. And next year we will visit the Russian capital again and I hope that the Russian viewers will be able to appreciate the culture of the Philippines.
When asked if Russia is doing the right thing by turning east, Bailén responded with true diplomatic finesse.
– Of course, Russia itself determines its strategic interests. But I, as the representative of the Philippines, cannot help but agree with this approach. Russia is a huge country and Vladivostok is the real gateway for the Asian part of your country to the world. Of course, there are huge opportunities here that are worth taking advantage of. And I would like to point out that today Russia is rediscovering not only its closest neighbor, China, but also countries further south such as Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand. Of course, the Philippines would also like to be in this queue and we would like to show our country to the Russians in the best possible light.
