Taiwan’s government congratulated Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Thursday on his victory in the Philippine presidential election, while expressing hope that efforts to deepen ties would continue between the two close neighbors.

“Congratulations to the Filipino people on the successful national elections on May 9,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokeswoman Joanne Ou (???) said.

Ou also congratulated President-elect Marcos on his victory, adding that Taiwan is looking forward to working with the new administration to further strengthen cooperation.

The Philippines is an important partner country in Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy and both countries have maintained close people-to-people exchanges over the years, said Ou.

There are over 150,000 Filipinos in Taiwan with most of them being migrant workers or immigrants married to Taiwanese, according to Ou.

With over 98 percent of votes counted in the Philippine presidential election, partial tallies showed presumptive president Marcos Jr. with at least 31 million votes, or over 56 percent of votes, more than double the 14.8 million of his closest rival Leni Robredo.

The 64-year-old Filipino politician, who served as a senator from 2010 to 2016, is the second child and only son of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and former first lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel