
MANILA -- New Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Sunday will embark on his first official overseas trip, to Indonesia and Singapore, setting the tone for a foreign policy that sides with neither the U.S. nor China.
Marcos, who took office on June 30 after a landslide election victory, has vowed to "stand firm in our independent foreign policy." The choice of Southeast Asian neighbors for the trip reinforces that message, a senior Philippine diplomat told Nikkei Asia.