Marcos describes ADB as Philippines’ ‘most important partner’

Newly-elected ADB President Masato Kanda pays a courtesy visit to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Malacañang on Wednesday, February 26, 2025. (Photo courtesy of PCO)

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has commended the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the Philippines for its “tremendous” support to the country.

During newly-elected ADB President Masato Kanda’s courtesy call in Malacañang on Wednesday, Marcos described the bank as “the most important partner” of the nation.

“The partnership between the ADB and the Philippines has been tremendous,” Marcos said during their meeting, as quoted in a press release from the Presidential Communications Office on Thursday.

He also mentioned the Philippines and the ADB’s long-standing partnership, which dates back to his father’s and namesake’s administration.

“I mean the development that we have achieved that is being assisted by the ADB, which is the most important partner that we have had in the Philippines,” Marcos told Kanda.

“And yet, we find that in the last years, recent years, that has even increased. And so, I think, it is very encouraging, very promising,” he also said.

Newly-elected ADB President Masato Kanda pays a courtesy visit to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Malacañang on Wednesday, February 26, 2025. (Photo courtesy of PCO)

Kanda assumed the ADB presidency on February 24 to finish the remaining term of immediate past President Masatsugu Asakawa, whose term expires on November 23, 2026. The ADB was inaugurated in Manila on December 19, 1966, and was composed of only 31 members.

Currently, it has 69 members, 49 of whom are from Asia.

Takeshi Watanabe was the first president of the ADB.