Spanish President Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón on Wednesday (Brussels time) vowed to provide institutional support to help strengthen the dialogue in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

In a press release, Malacañang said Pérez-Castejón made this commitment in his “historic” bilateral meeting with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-European Union (ASEAN-EU) Commemorative Summit in Brussels, Belgium.

“The Spanish cooperation in Muslim Mindanao… especially this region, [the] Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, [is] where we try to provide institutional support and strengthen the dialogue,” he said.

He described the Philippines as a “priority country” for its assistance programs, pledging various initiatives for lasting peace in the southern Philippines.

“But it’s true that you know, Philippines is the only Asian country in… from our side, listed as a priority country in the masterplan for Spanish cooperation,” Pérez-Castejón said.

Marcos, for his part, recalled his work in the Senate in hopes of creating an autonomous political entity to end decades of conflict and poverty in the southern Philippines.

“I was a senator, and we were forming the new autonomous region, and of the places I went to seek advice was your experience in Catalonia, and I learned… we learned very much,” Marcos said.

“The most important lesson that they taught [us] was to make sure that… the curriculum in the autonomous region schools is the same as the rest,” he added.

According to Marcos, he took those lessons very closely as it was “good advice.”

The two leaders agreed to strengthen Manila and Madrid’s bilateral relations, especially with the “very strong and historic ties” between the two.

The Philippines takes its name from Philip II, who was king of Spain during the Spanish colonization of the islands in the 16th century.

It was under Spanish colonial rule for over 300 years until the Philippine Revolution in 1898.

Diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Spain were established on Sept. 27, 1947.

On February 2003, bilateral relations between the Philippines and Spain were raised to a higher level when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Republic Act 9187, declaring June 30 of each year as Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day. (PNA)