BBM joins world leaders, multitude of mourners at pope's funeral

President Marcos joined around 170 world leaders and as many as 250,000 mourners at the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican City yesterday.

- HELEN FLORES

Marcos, accompanied by First Lady Liza Marcos, arrived in Rome Friday morning (Vatican time).

Photos released by the Presidential Communications Office showed the President in a dark gray suit and the First Lady in a black dress arriving at St. Peter's Square for the late pontiff's funeral. They were both wearing a pin of the Philippine flag on their left chest.

The PCO and Philippine Ambassador to Italy Neal Imperial shared photos of Marcos' separate interactions with US President Donald Trump and former US president Joe Biden at St. Peter's Square. A video posted by GMA News on social media showed the Marcoses conversing with Biden and wife Jill before the funeral mass started at 4 p.m. (Philippine time).

The President’s trip to Vatican is until April 28 based on Special Order 424 he issued on Thursday.

Marcos earlier declared a period of national mourning over the passing of Francis, who he said “holds a special place in the hearts of the Filipino people.”