Long-haul flight stopping Rody from US visit
Although eager to visit his “friend” US President Donald Trump, President Duterte said he is having difficulty scheduling an official trip, as he is worried about the possible effects of a long-haul flight on his health.
“I’ve been invited to the US several times but you know, it’s not because of anybody or any place there, it is something to do with the schedule. If it would be regional flight where I can fly in and fly out in the evening, that will be very easy, but long haul of 13 to 14 hours would kill me,” Duterte said at the Asia-Pacific Healthy Islands Conference 2018 in Davao City on climate change last Wednesday.
“I used to fly when I was young, for many years, I accumulated something like 600 hours of flying but for the life of me, I cannot stand long flights anymore… even the recovery from jetlag would take me about almost two to three days to… just stretch it out before I can function as a person,” he said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and US officials are reportedly arranging another meeting between Duterte and Trump in Washington.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez has been working to make the planned official visit a reality.
“And he has said that he will not give up on convincing the President to accept the pending invitation of President Trump for President Duterte to visit the United States, but I have no other details than that,” Roque said.
Duterte mentioned Trump while talking about the US withdrawal from the Paris Accord on climate change in 2017.
“US withdrew from the (Paris accord) I don’t know why … I have to fathom the reason or even the rationale of the withdrawal,” Duterte said. “Is it because it cannot work hand in hand with other nations or is it because Trump would like to do it alone?”
He said he was hesitant to sign the accord that he felt was binding only to developing nations like the Philippines.
“We would like to see, at least my country, that there is really something of good faith on the part of anybody to do his share of the endeavor,” he said, referring to global efforts to minimize carbon emissions.
“There has to be an enterprise to the approach, you honor your word, do not exceed the limits we have set for ourselves and the one thing that we cannot control are those countries that are highly industrialized and powerful enough to impose their own will. That’s the problem,” Duterte pointed out.
The Chief Executive also called on world leaders to avoid war, saying armed global conflict would be disastrous to both mankind and the environment.
“The South Korea peninsula issue has to be resolved, then stop egging Iran to go to war,” the President said. Trump earlier warned Iran that threatening the US would lead to severe consequences.
“If that’s what will happen, even about a few hundreds of missiles, nuclear, then there is no use talking about climate change,” the President added.
Duterte expressed hopes that cooler heads would prevail and leaders of influential countries would help promote peace.
“It behooves upon the leaders whose nations are really there and who can make a change, they can do much and we appreciate nations who approach the problem with sobriety and understanding and providing the cooler heads,” the President said.