PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to attend the 35th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit and Related Summits in Thailand on November 2 to 4, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced on Monday.
In a press conference, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Junever Mahilum-West said the President will have a “full schedule” during the summit.
“The 35th Asean Summit will be attended by the heads of governments and states of the Asean member-states, as well as heads of governments and states of its dialogue partners,” she said.
Chief of Protocol Robert Borje said Duterte’s long-time partner, Cielito “Honeylet” Avanceña, would also fly to Bangkok to attend the Spouses Program.
Mahilum-West said Duterte will be accompanied by several Cabinet officials, including Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.
Duterte would attend the Asean Plenary Summit, Asean Plus Three Summit, and the East Asia Summit to take the opportunity to discuss with world leaders the “regional and international issues affecting our region,” the DFA official said.
The President, along with nine other Asean members, would hold one-on-one summits with the United States, China, Japan and India to talk about the “current direction of our partnerships and cooperation on mutual concerns,” she added.
Mahilum-West also said the South China Sea disputes would be tackled during the Asean summit.
“I think it (South China Sea disputes) will be featured in the discussions. It’s unavoidable. Kasi doon sa meeting na ‘yun ng mga leaders (Because during the leaders’ meeting), they will have a tour of the horizon of what’s happening throughout the region,” she said.
“So it will be discussed there and then I think, we could expect the countries to give their positions. But as to intensive negotiations, we don’t expect that will happen in this meeting — in these kinds of meetings,” she added.
Duterte is also expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Southeast Asian leaders and other dialogue partners of the regional bloc on the sidelines of the 35th Asean summit.
“Meron na hong inaayos at hindi lang ho limited sa [leaders of] Southeast Asia but other countries as well kasi may dialogue partners tayo [na] mag-participate (It’s being arranged and it’s not only limited to leaders of Southeast Asia, it includes other countries as well because we have dialogue partners who will participate),” she said. (NASE/SunStar Philippines)