PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is set to visit the country’s neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in his first foreign trip as head of state, a senior cabinet official said Monday.
Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said Duterte’s trips to Asean countries is tentatively set between August 23 to 30.
“Duterte will pay the traditional courtesy calls as a new President,” Andanar said.
Sources said Duterte will first visit Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, in a bid to improve ties with the Southeast Asian power.
Special Assistant to the President Secretary Christopher Go confirmed that President is scheduled to visit Laos on September 6 to 7 for the turnover of the chairmanship of the Asean.
Duterte had earlier asked Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay to represent him in the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, which will gather 53 leaders from Asia and Europe, citing that he needs to focus first “on domestic issues.”
Duterte is seen to court the support of various Asean powers in the ongoing maritime row with China after the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration rejected as groundless Beijing’s claims over much of the disputed South China Sea.
