Obama to visit Philippines, meet with PNoy, in October

From InterAksyon (Sep 14): Obama to visit Philippines, meet with PNoy, in October

US President Barack Obama will visit the Philippines in October, the White House said in a statement posted on Friday in Washington, DC. The schedule of President Obama's visit to the Philippines - his first - was subsequently acknowledged and announced by Philippine presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda.

The statement attributed to the office of the US Press Secretary said Obama will "travel to Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines from October 6 to 12 as part of his ongoing commitment to increase US political, economic and security engagement with the Asia Pacific."

His itinerary will apparently follow the order of countries as stated in the release, with Indonesia being the first stop, and the Philippines coming on the last leg.

"In Indonesia, (President Obama) will attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders meeting," the White House said. "On the margins of the APEC meeting, the President will host a meeting of Leaders of the Trans-Pacific Partnership countries. He will also meet with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to reaffirm our close bilateral ties and celebrate the third year of our Comprehensive Partnership."

Obama will then travel to Brunei for the US-ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit (EAS) and to meet with the Sultan of Brunei. Next stop will be Malaysia where he will deliver the keynote address to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit.
Finally, "the President will then travel to the Philippines, the fifth Asian treaty ally he has visited during his presidency.  He will meet with President Aquino to reaffirm the strong economic, people-to-people, and security links between our two countries."

Obama's trip to the Philippines will also be backdropped by Manila's efforts to strengthen military ties and agreements with Washington, in the face of a more aggressive Chinese presence in the region.

The Philippines and the United States are in the middle of negotiations to increase the "rotational presence" of American military personnel, aircraft and ships in the islands, and allow these to temporarily pass through the Philippines, as Washington refocuses its attention on Asia.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said after a visit to the Philippines last month that the two sides were moving towards completing a framework agreement. Filipino officials have earlier expressed optimism the talks would be finalized this year.

This has been a sensitive point for Filipino militants who are accusing both governments of conspiring to reestablish de facto US bases in the country.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/70676/obama-to-visit-philippines-meet-with-pnoy-in-october