September 16, 2025
MANILA – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will no longer participate in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) 2025 in New York City, United States set for next week to focus on local issues, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Dave Gomez said on Monday.
Marcos’ absence was confirmed by Gomez in a Viber message to reporters.
“The President has delegated his engagements at the UNGA to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs to allow him to focus on local issues,” he said.
This will be the third consecutive time that Marcos skips UNGA. In 2023 and 2024, he was represented by then-Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo in the event.
The 80th session of the UNGA opened on September 9, while the high-level General Debate will run from September 23 to 27 and conclude on September 29.
Marcos’ absence in the yearly assembly came amid his administration’s ongoing investigation into the alleged corruption in flood-control and other infrastructure projects in the country.
Various groups are also set to stage protest actions against corruption from September 15 to 21. These dates coincide with the UNGA.
In a press briefing earlier in the day, Marcos said he supports protests against the recently exposed corruption in government, particularly in flood-control projects, adding that if he were not the president, he might have also joined the demonstrations.