Singapore honors PBBM, First Lady with orchid named after them

On the second day of their tour to Singapore, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos had purple orchids named after them.

On Wednesday, the final day of their state visit, the couple paid a visit to Singapore’s National Botanical Garden where, according to a Malacaang news release, they had a close-up view of the Dendrobium orchid.

“Dendrobium Ferdinand Louise Marcos” is described as “a robust and free-flowering orchid hybrid.”

It produces semi-arching inflorescences that are 50 to 70 centimeters long and include 20 to 30 symmetrically placed blooms, each of which is about 4 centimeters wide.

The curled sepals of the orchid feature a white background with lavender striations, and its petals are white with bluish purple flushes.

The practice of naming a new orchid species cultivated in Singapore after a foreign leader or celebrity is known as “orchid diplomacy,” and Marcos is the most recent leader to receive this distinction.

The orchid’s nomenclature, according to Whang Lay Keng, curator of the Singapore Botanical Garden, illustrates the strong diplomatic connections between the two nations, which will “grow and proliferate” like the orchid.