Duterte, Trump to talk drugs, terrorism, trade
ILLEGAL drugs, terrorism and trade relations between the Philippines and the United States will be high on the agenda of the meeting of President Rodrigo Duterte and President Donald Trump in Manila next month, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetao said on Wednesday.
In a chance interview, Cayetano said Duterte and Trump would have a bilateral meeting at the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) conference in Manila.
“What’s the fundamental interest, intersecting interest of America and the Philippines? First is security...which includes terrorism and drugs, the threat of terrorism and illegal drugs. Secondly, trade. So if you have security but the people are hungry, it’s useless,” he added.
Cayetano claimed the Trump administration had pivoted on free trade, which could be an opening to a bilateral agreement with the Philippines.
“They’re negotiating many regional and multilateral trade agreements but there’s a possibility that we will explore a bilateral agreement,” he said.
The White House has announced that Trump would visit to Manila on November 12 to 13 to participate in Asean meetings to be hosted by Duterte, chairman of the regional bloc this year.
Trump’s schedule will allow him to attend the special gala celebration of the 50th anniversary of Asean and the Asean-US meeting, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
But the American leader will not attend the East Asia Summit (EAS) on November 14 in Pampanga.
“The decision was really that he will be here on the 12th and 13th [of November]. We tried to the schedules. But since you’re dealing with more than a dozen world leaders plus the Asean, it’s - ules together,” Cayetano said.
“They were actually just waiting for the East Asia summit (sched that the East Asia Summit will be on the 14th, it looks like his Secretary of State would be the one to attend,” he added, referring to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
The EAS is composed of the 10 Asean countries Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam; and dialogue partners Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, US and Russia.
‘Strong message of friendship’
Cayetano said Trump could not extend his stay up to November 14 as the US president had other countries in his itinerary.
The White House has said that Trump would visit Manila as part of his Asian tour, which would also take him to China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and the US state of Hawaii.
“It would have been great if President Trump could attend all the activities but the reality is any world leader, especially of the United States, cannot spend too many days outside [his country]… He’s attending most of the activities, and the bilaterals with the allies including the Philippines. It’s a very, very strong message of friendship,” Cayetano said.