President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. arrived in Manila on Saturday after attending the ASEAN - Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

During his arrival at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City, Marcos was welcomed by Armed Forces of the Philippines led by Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr.

"I have arrived back from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia after a very short but I can say, successful and productive visit," Marcos said in his arrival speech.

"The ASEAN GCC summit is a landmark event and this has happened for the first time, where leaders from both ASEAN and the GCC states met and discussed regional and international issues and agreed upon the future of cooperation between our two regional organizations," he added.

Marcos said "the summit provided an opportunity to project the Philippines' long standing promotion of a rules based international order, which is essential to the maintenance of peace, security and stability in our regions which sit astride two of the most vibrant ceilings of trade and communications in the world."

He noted that the Summit also provided the "GCC leaders an opportunity to convey their views on the ongoing conflict in Israel in Gaza."

"I shared our hope for peace and that it should prevail and for the welfare and safety of civilians to be upheld, in accordance with international humanitarian law," he said. Robina Asido/DMS