Is the European Union the next foreign trip for President
Rodrigo Duterte?
Early this week European Union Ambassador to the Philippines
Franz Jessen told the media in a press conference in the weekly Kapihan sa
Manila Bay that the European Union has formally invited President Rodrigo Roa
Duterte to attend the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM12) in Brussels, Belgium in
October.
The President coming home from his successful trip in India,
bringing home US1.25 Billion in investment pledges, it was all but natural to
ask him if his next trip would be to the EU.
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| Pres. Duterte ( file photo)(photo credit to owner) |
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, in answering the
question said, that the President will “follow his own guidelines” in deciding
whether to accept the invitation or not.
“There was an invitation but the guidelines will be… we need
to be very clear on what benefits the Philippines will get from such a visit.
It must not be too expensive,” Roque said in a news conference in India.
“Pursuant to those guidelines, the President will make a
decision.”
Should the President accept the invitation, Jessen said he
hopes Duterte's visit to Europe may give the chief executive a "more
positive understanding of the European Union."
The president in his public speeches had slammed the EU for
its “interference” in a purely internal matter to the Philippines, this is with
respect as to how the government authorities is implementing its anti-drug
campaign.
The government has repeatedly explained the Philippine
situation and has clarified that it does not sanction summary killings or allow
police abuses in the conduct of its anti-drug campaign.
President Duterte has visited several countries since he
assumed the presidency and each time he goes home , he has gotten billions of
dollars of aid and trade pledges.
The EU , is a vital trading partner of the Philippines,
which recently has retained its duty-free privileges for most of the
Philippines’ exports to EU. *
Recently the Philippines formally rejected atleast 6.1
Million euros worth of aid , as confirmed by Jessen.
Roque, assured the public that the rejection of such aid
will not affect the delivery of services to the public.
“We are doing it as a country. We are providing for the
needs of our people. We now have outstanding economic growth and this will
enable us to give what our people will need,” Roque said.
Report from ABS-CBN
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