Hillary to visit RP
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last Friday that she would visit the Philippines from Nov. 12-13 “to show solidarity’’ with the typhoon-battered nation.
“I will be going to the Philippines, to show solidarity with our friends in the Philippines who have been battered by typhoons and have just suffered so much over the last weeks,’’ Clinton said.
Hillary bared her trip to Manila nduring her keynote speech at the First Annual Public Policy Conference sponsored by NoLimits.Org at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington.
NoLimits.Org is a non-partisan, non-political, issue-based educational foundation that supports Secretary Clinton in her pursuit for better health care and education in the US.
Secretary Clinton’s visit is in line with her trip to Europe and Asia that will culminate on Nov. 18 when she joins US President Barack Obama for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in Singapore.
Washington announced last Wednesday that Clinton would attend the APEC ministerial meeting scheduled for Nov. 11-12 in Singapore.
US officials say Clinton is due in the Philippines right after the Singapore trip.
“In Manila, the Secretary will hold consultations with senior Filipino officials, highlighting the US-Philippines treaty alliance,” US Department of State spokesman Ian Kelly said in a daily press briefing in Washington.
PALACE WELCOMES CLINTON
Malacañang yesterday affirmed the close relations between the Philippines and the United States as it is ready to welcome Hillary who will visit Manila this week.
“We welcome the visit of Secretary Hillary Clinton and her capacity as the Secretary of State,” Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said yesterday over governmentrun DZRB, citing the good bilateral relations between the US and the Philippines.
It will be Hillary’s second time to visit the country. The first was in 1996 during the APEC Summit in Subic, Zambales, when she accompanied her husband, then US President Bill Clinton, who was President Arroyo’s classmate at Georgetown University in Washington D.C.
“Alam naman natin ang close relationship ni President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo sa mga Clinton dahil former President Bill Clinton was a classmate of President Arroyo in Georgetown University. Former President Bill Clinton speaks very highly of President Arroyo,” Remonde said.
HUMAN RIGHTS, MAY POLLS
According to Remonde, Secretary Clinton will meet President Arroyo in a closed-door meeting and will discuss next year’s national elections. Secretary Clinton is expected to voice US sentiments for an orderly elections and peaceful transition of power.
They will also discuss the effects of recent typhoons that devastated much Metro Manila and Luzon and US aid to the Philippines.
Arroyo and Clinton are also expected to thresh out issues on alleged human rights violations that escalated during Arroyo’s term as commander-in-chief.
He said the President will cite the government’s efforts of having an automated election as part of her objective in ensuring orderly and honest elections next year. – via www.tempo.com.ph
Related Posts
