President Rodrigo Duterte might be swayed to attend a summit between the United States and the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, despite a recent US legislation banning entry of all Philippine officials supposedly behind the arrest of Senator Leila De Lima.
“Given that this is an Asean meeting of leaders, maybe the President will be persuaded. But I will ask him,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said Tuesday.
Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Monday said he and his nine counterparts in the Asean has reached a consensus to attend the summit that would be held early March in Las Vegas, upon the invitation of US President Donald Trump.
President Duterte, however, has yet to announce if he will attend the summit after Trump approved America’s 2020 budget containing a provision that bans Philippine officials behind the detention of Senator Leila de Lima, a vocal critic of the administration’s anti-drug campaign.
The provision mandated US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to bar local officials from entering their territory, proven that they were linked to the “wrongful imprisonment” of De Lima, who claims she has been persecuted by the Duterte administration.
The President has repeatedly said he would never set foot on American soil, even if he was twice invited by Trump to visit Washington.
The two leaders met during the 2017 Asean meeting held in Manila.
In the last Asean summit, most of leaders did not show up at the US-Asean discussion in Bangkok that was also skipped by Trump and Duterte.
The United States was represented by Trump’s national security adviser Robert O’Brien, while the Philippine government was represented by Locsin.
