President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. will still fly to China for a state visit this January despite the soaring COVID-19 cases there, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Thursday, Dec. 29.

In a press briefing, DFA Office of Asian and Pacific Affairs Secretary Nathaniel Imperial stressed that the country’s relation with China is important.

“May mga bisita talaga na hindi natin pwede i-postpone,” he said.

Imperial said the Chinese government gave them assurances that “all arrangements are being made to ensure the safety of the President and his delegation during the visit.”

Marcos' China trip is scheduled on January 3 to 5 which will mark his first foreign trip in 2023 and first state visit outside the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The DFA official said the Philippine delegation will have a bubble arrangement in order to “minimize the risk of exposure to the virus.”

According to Imperial, Marcos will be joined by First Lady Liza Marcos, former president and now House Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo, Secretaries of Finance, Trade and Industry, Tourism, Information and Communication and Technologies, and other Cabinet secretaries.

"Every precaution is being undertaken to ensure that the delegation is not infected and does not bring back the new variants of the virust to the Philippines," he said.