Palace assures foreign nations: ‘No increased terror threat in PH’

MALACAÑANG welcomed Saturday the extended stay of United States (US) President Donald Trump to the Philippines to attend the East Asian Summit.

“The Palace welcomes the announcement of the White House that President Donald Trump would extend his stay in the Philippines to attend East Asia Summit,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in an interview with staterun dzRB.

Trump confirmed Friday that he would spend an extra day in the Philippines to attend the East Asia Summit that will be held on November 14.

The White House earlier announced that Trump would stay in the Philippines on November 12 to 13 to participate in the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit and Related Meetings that will be hosted by President Rodrigo Duterte, this year’s chair of the regional bloc.

The White House’s announcement fueled speculation that Trump would skip the East Asia Summit, an annual conference that will be graced by Asean leaders and other world leaders.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, in a recent interview, came to Trump’s defense, saying that the American leader has no intention to snub the East Asia Summit since his scheduled visit to the Philippines was set ahead of the Philippines’ decision to hold the forum on November 14.

In a statement on Friday, the White House said Trump would attend the East Asia Summit and hold bilateral dialogue with several foreign leaders, including Duterte.

“President Trump will conclude his trip in the Philippines, where he will hold bilateral meetings with Presdient Rodrigo Duterte, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia, and attend the USAsean Summit and East Asia Summit,” it said.

Andanar said Duterte was looking forward to having a “productive” dialogue with Trump.

On November 29, Duterte said he would raise the Philippines' concern over North Korea's ballistic missile tests when he meets Trump

"I would deal with President Trump in the most righteous way, welcome him as an important leader, as a matter of fact, the important leader on this side of the planet," the President said.

"The main or the opening agenda [of my talk with Trump] would really be Korea. We are worried, all of us, that you know, Murphy's Law [said], 'If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong.' So that has always been a problem for us," he added. (SunStar Philippines)