President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Sunday urged Filipinos to continue exemplifying their genuine warmth and hospitality to visitors to help propel growth and overall economic development.

In his latest vlog, Marcos recounted how foreign dignitaries would usually ask him why Filipinos are so nice as hosts.

He said Filipinos’ genuine warmth is innately embedded in the social fabric of being a Filipino, making it one of the tourism brands the country can be proud of.

“Ang Filipino hospitality ay katangian na noon pa man ng bawat Pilipino. Isabuhay pa natin ito, lalo pang paghusayan, ito ang mahahalagang sangkap sa ating biyahe tungo sa Bagong Pilipinas (The Filipino hospitality is a trait that we have been known for. Let us put it into practice, improve on it, as it is an important component of our journey towards a New Philippines),” Marcos said.

In his five-minute vlog, the President talked about how Filipino hospitality was on full display whenever a world leader was visiting the country.

He said that like how other countries welcomed him in his foreign trips with their “best foot forward,” the Philippines would pull out all the stops to entertain visitors.

Marcos highlighted the importance of offering visitors the convenience of proximity to the place where they will temporarily stay in the Philippines to ensure that they will make it on time for their scheduled meetings.

This, according to the President, gave birth to the initiative of renovating old buildings in the Malacañang compound to turn them into temporary lodging for visiting dignitaries.

“Imbis na maghohotel pa sila sa malayo, matatraffic, at mahihirapan sa schedule ng mga meeting, dito na lang sila sa Palasyo. Nagkataon na may mga napabayaang lumang bahay sa compound ng Malacañang at may nakita kaming isa na puwede pang i-renovate, ‘yun ang aming ginawa (Instead of staying in hotel, getting stuck in traffic, and experience difficulty with their scheduled meetings, they will be here at the Palace. Fortunately, there were neglected old houses in the Malacañang compound and we found one that could be renovated, that’s what we did),” he said.

These establishments include the Goldenberg and Laperal mansions.

The President said the project was made possible through the collaboration of the teams of the Office of the President, the Social Secretary and the Office of the First Lady.

All of these, the President said he felt proud of whenever foreign leaders asked him what makes the Philippines and its people graciously unique, stressing that world leaders must know that they are important to Filipinos to pave the way for stronger and deeper ties.

“It is important that our guests feel very welcome here. In order to make our collaboration stronger, our agreements, our partnerships in different countries,” he added.

Last week, Marcos hosted New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in Malacañang where they tackled various collaboration points such as defense, maritime security, economic development, and people-to-people exchanges.

The Amir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, will also be at Malacañang on Monday upon the invitation of Marcos. (PNA)