Aquino to meet Obama and other world leaders
President Benigno S. Aquino III is looking forward to meeting with heads of state and heads of government from around the world including United States President Barack Obama while he is in New York to attend the 65th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The President left Manila on Monday (Sept. 20) for his first foreign trip as the country’s Chief Executive.
In an interview upon his arrival in New York, the President said his attendance at the UNGA will give him the opportunity to meet with his counterparts “to be able to resolve a lot of issues and we can get better cooperation amongst the concerns, especially in ASEAN.”
Some 150 world leaders are attending the 65th UNGA.
The President also expressed hope that his proposed one-on-one meeting with President Barack Obama will push through.
“If I get the chance to meet with President Obama, of course, that would be most welcome. There are a lot of concerns that have to be taken up with President Obama,” he said.
According to the President, the proposed one-on-one meeting with Obama had yet to be confirmed. However, they will have a chance to meet when the US President meets the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during the 2nd US-ASEAN Leader’s Meeting.
The President will be the coordinator for the 2nd ASEAN-US Leaders meeting in New York as the Philippines is currently the Country Coordinator for ASEAN-US Dialogue relations for 2009-2012.(PCOO)
Aquino shuns expensive dinners, stays at cheaper hotel in New York
There will be no expensive dinners for President Benigno S. Aquino III and his official delegation while they are in New York.
The Chief Executive, who is on a weeklong working visit to the United States to attend the 65th United Nations General Assembly, said he was looking forward to eating hotdogs, pizza and chow mien in New York.
He recalled that his family used to eat pizza and chao mien when they were in Boston while his late father, former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. was in exile.
Shortly after his arrival in San Francisco, the President together with his delegation ate hamburgers at the “In and Out “.
The President noted that he and his cabinet secretaries were like kids as they enjoyed eating their burgers which were really huge.
The President, who shuns using sirens in his travels around the country, also said that his escorts in New York used sirens to take him from the airport to the Sofitel Hotel, where he is billeted during the duration of his stay in the city. He described it as something beyond his control as “we’re just visitors here.”
The President chose to stay at the cheaper Sofitel instead of the more elegant and expensive Waldorf-Astoria but the room he is occupying has likewise an ambience that befits a head of state.(PCOO)
Aquino to meet with business leaders in New York
President Benigno S. Aquino III will meet with several business leaders in New York on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila), in line with his efforts to attract investors to the country.
In a media briefing in Malacanang, Wednesday morning, Deputy Spokesperson Abigail delaFuente-Valte said President Aquino is scheduled to meet with former US Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger and officials of the Synergos Institute and AES Corporation as well as World Bank president Robert Zoellick.
Also part of his itinerary is an interview with the Wall Street Journal and the conferment rights at the College of Math Saint Vincent where he will receive the Elizabeth Ann Seton medal, the highest honors given by the school.
Valte said that part of the topics the President will discuss with officials of the AES Corporation is a possible expansion of its power plant’s capacity. AES is an electricity generation and distribution company which has a plant in Masinloc, Zambales.
Valte said the President’s meeting with Zoellick will cover issues such as climate change, additional infrastructure funding and additional support from World Bank’s country assistance fund.
One of the highlights of the President’s US visit is his speech before the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 24, Thursday, (Friday in Manila) where he is expected to appeal for greater cooperation not just between the developed and developing countries but among all nations. (PCOO)
Aquino to attend ASEAN Summit and visit Vietnam in October
President Benigno S. Aquino III will go to Hanoi on Oct. 28 to 30 to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) Summit.
But prior to his attendance at the ASEAN Summit, the Chief Executive will first make a state visit to Vietnam upon the personal invitation of Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said, in an interview in New York, that the President was originally scheduled to visit Vietnam last September 13-14 but the hostage crisis took place at the Quirino Grandstand last August 23, which forced the President to stay and attend to domestic problems.
According to Romulo, when he informed President Triet of the postponement, the latter understood completely. “President Triet thanked President Aquino for congratulating Vietnam on the celebration of their 65th anniversary.”
Romulo said the two leaders talked about the ASEAN-US meeting that will take place this Friday (Sept. 24) and President Aquino, as the coordinator, just talked about their full agenda including the communiqué, which has been arranged by the senior officials.
He reported to the Vietnamese leader that President Aquino is looking forward to his visit to Hanoi in order to “deepen the relationship already existing between the two countries.”
The Vietnamese president also expressed his confidence in the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Vietnam.
President Aquino said he expects to sign in Hanoi the agreements on higher education, defense, maritime issues and disaster coordination, including oil spill and natural calamities, Romulo added. (PCOO)
More world leaders invite Aquino
President Benigno S. Aquino III has yet to finish his official schedules in the United States but already invitations are pouring for him to visit other nations.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, in an interview Tuesday night in New York, said leaders of several countries including China want to cement their relations with the Philippines.
Romulo said a representative from China extended the invitation to President Aquino.
“There are invitations to him everywhere. But like he said, in accordance with tradition he will visit the Association of Southeast Asian nations first, which is in Hanoi for the regional ASEAN summit,” he said.
Expected to be discussed in President’s Aquino’s expected meeting with US President Barack Obama, according to Romulo, is the Asean US agenda pertaining to the regions and the continuation of the ASEAN-US Summit.
It should also tackle, he said, the Eminent Persons Group by which each country to the US would name an eminent person to discuss further how the ASEAN-US will continue to proceed as an important grouping.
The Philippines has been the coordinator of the ASEAN-US summit meetings since last year and will continue to do so until next year, he said.
Romulo said the meeting between President Aquino and President Obama will tackle future agenda in the Philippines’ role of coordinator, and the topics will be up for ASEAN members to agree on. The ASEAN chair now is Vietnam and the US and next year it will be Indonesia and the US.
According to Romulo, issues common to ASEAN and the US include the declaration of conduct in the South China Sea, of which there is a declaration between the Asean-10 and China.
Asked why the President was not scheduled to be among the first four speakers at the UN General Assembly, Romulo said “we have arranged it as such because he has so many other meetings to attend to. The first speaker is always Brazil then the United States then the country of the president of the General Assembly, Romulo explained. (PCOO)
Proposed OP budget for 2011 down by 4.3%
The Office of the President (OP) is cutting back its proposed budget for 2011 by 4.3 percent to P4.075 billion in line with President Benigno Aquino III’s efforts to streamline the operations in the Executive Department, according to Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr.
Ochoa is set to present OP’s expenditure plan for the next fiscal year at a budget hearing in the House of Representatives on Thursday, which is P183.9 million less than the appropriation received by President Aquino’s predecessor.
One of the cost-cutting steps taken by the OP to reduce its proposed budget was to abolish 10 locally-funded projects (LFP), which have been found to duplicate the functions of other line agencies or departments.
The government could realize a savings of P304.62 million with the elimination of LFPs attached under the OP, namely, the Mindanao Development Council, Office of the North Luzon Quadrangle Area, Office of External Affairs, Presidential Anti-Graft Commission, Minerals Development Council, Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group, Luzon Urban Beltway Super Region, Bicol River Basin Watershed Management Project, Office of the Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change, and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on New Government Centers.
According to Ochoa, OP’s maintenance, operating and other expenses—pegged at P2.64 billion in 2010—have been slashed by 6.2 percent to P2.48 billion in 2011, while budget for personal services has been slightly reduced to P1.57 billion from P1.58 billion in spite of the implementation of the second tranche of salary increases.
“Our philosophy is to streamline the operations of the Office of the President so we can cut unnecessary spending and use our resources where they are needed most,” the Executive Secretary explained.
Funds for professional services or consultancies, for example, have been cut by P152.7 million, from P390.8 million in 2010 to P238.1 million this year.
“The President wants to lead by example. He cannot ask other agencies to cut costs if his own office is not prudent in the use of the people’s money,” Ochoa added.(PCOO)
